What Ever Happened to Holiday Cheer?

Thanksgiving turned out to be a sensational experience for me this year: the weather was fantastic, the food menu was nontraditional (which was quite tasty and none was left over... to include beer), and the sports venue—as well as time spent with family and friends—was tremendously entertaining. These are the kind of moments I'm sure we all enjoy and cherish as we observe the holidays. But then I saw a Best Buy paper advertisement. I was suddenly reminded of how sensitive and litigious our society has become.

Some time ago, Best Buy announced that it would no longer print the words “Merry Christmas” in its flyers. Incidentally, I was reading through one of its ads last week to get a feel for the kinds of things offered for the famous Black Friday sales, when I happen to come across the company's way of spreading holiday cheer: Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Solstices, and Eid A-Adha (a Muslim holiday that contained bolder font and extra bordering)... no mention of happy Thanksgiving, which at the time of this ad was the befalling of the holiday.

Now, I understand why this ad was posted this way; I understand the reasoning behind why we fuss and fight over holidays nowadays. I'm all for healthy debates and the mulling over pros and cons; merits and demerits of certain viewpoints. However, while I feel that it is appropriate to be inclusive (in terms of other worldly causes and points of views), I feel that it is inappropriate to be exclusive when it comes to our own causes, traditions, and views. I somehow get the feeling that we placate the other side and other traditions more than we do our own. Is this because our overly litigious society makes it uncomfortable for some to rest at night from fear of legal backlash? Have judges morphed their own roles to resemble lawmakers rather than interpreters? Are we, on some level, afraid that we may be attacked again on grounds of "American dogma"?

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of all the bickering, fussing, and fighting at a time when we're suppose to be cheerful and festive. This happens every year! Have we not sorted this out yet?

-R