A good friend posted a picture on Facebook today. The picture showed Charlie Brown and Linus standing next to the iconic Charlie Brown Christmas tree. The caption has Linus saying "Isn't it strange that America is the largest Christian nation in the world and we can't say 'Merry Christmas.'"
This bothers me on so many levels. Mostly it's just wrong. America is NOT a Christian nation. The Founding Fathers, whom the Christian right are so fond of invoking, made sure we would not be a Christian nation. Or a Jewish nation. Or a Muslim, Eastern Orthodox, Hindu, Shinto or any other kind of religious nation. The very first amendment to the Constitution reads, "Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment or religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof..." John Adams, the second President and one of the Founding Fathers, said, "the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion..."
Some of us are Christian, a broad term encompassing every variation from Catholic to Southern Baptist to Mormon to storefront and street corner preacher.. Some of us are Jews, Muslims, atheists (why isn't that capitalized?), agnostics, deists, believers, nonbelievers. Collectively we are (or are supposed to be) a nation tolerant of all religious beliefs while officially recognizing none above the others. (It's sometimes difficult to get those who profess to follow the teachings of Jesus to go along with this.)
The second part of the words put in Linus's mouth (by someone other than The Creator Charles Schultz) is also wrong. Precisely because we are not a Christian (or any other religion) nation, we can say, "Merry Christmas." We can also say "Happy Hanukka," "Joyeu Noel." "Joyous Kwanzaa," "Feliz Navidad," "Joyful and Peaceful Solstice." We can even wish another soul that horrible all-encompassing "Happy Holidays," which is not an attack on Christmas but rather includes all of the above and wishes for New Year's. "Happy Holidays" is in reality a much larger, more inclusive greeting than the more limited "Merry Christmas" which truly only applies to Christians.
There another poster making the rounds on Facebook that says pretty much the same thing: wish me Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukka, Joyous Kwanzaa, or Happy holidays. It ends with:
"I will not be offended. I will be thankful you took the time to say something nice to me."
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