Please Wish Me a Merry Christmas

Editor’s Note: Thanks in large part to former Governor Chafee, Rhode Island seems to have a more nuanced relationship to Christmas than most other states. His decision five years ago to choose political correctness over tradition created the country’s first state sanctioned Holiday Tree and suddenly it was game on across the country. In the face of national blow back by traditionalists, the governor backed down and allowed the Christmas Tree to regain both its name and its traditional spot in the rotunda.

So it seems fitting we devote at least a little space in our December issue to another salvo aimed at political correctness. Bob Gardner, a well known West Coast ad man, business consultant and one of my old college buddies, admits to having a soft spot in his heart for Rhode Island and its acknowledged quirkiness, regardless of the season. Here’s his take on whether the greeting “Merry Christmas” is destined to survive in today’s world of hyper political correctness. 

Last December at a party, a friend came up to me and cheerfully said “Merry Christmas” and then, catching herself, switched to “Happy Holidays,” presumably not to offend me. In our ever-encroaching PC world, I find this happening more and more. And I hate it. I’m Jewish. I’m a dues-paying member of two synagogues, I support Israel unconditionally and I long for a Jewish president.

But I also love Christmas. I love the trees, the decorations, the lights, the parties, the food and drink, the gifts, the overindulgence. I love putting on my red blazer and Jerry Garcia Santa necktie. I can recite ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas by heart, and I thoroughly enjoyed my years as a kid selling Christmas trees to make a few extra bucks.

And most of all, I love the music. All of it. I love “White Christmas,” “Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer,” “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “Silver Bells,” “Jingle Bell Rock.” I am moved, sometimes to tears, by the perfect simplicity of “Silent Night,” “O Little Town of Bethlehem” and the big rousing orchestra and choral sounds of “O Holy Night” and “Angels We Have Heard on High.” And, of course, Handel’s Messiah.

I went to a public elementary school. Every year we’d have a Christmas pageant and all the parents and relatives would come. They would be entertained by the school orchestra and chorus doing carols (this was before the demise of school music and arts programs). There was also a Christmas scene complete with Mary and Joseph, a baby doll, wise men, stuffed animals, a star and a manger. One year I played Joseph and said “Hark” a lot, much to the amusement of my family and other Jewish families. No one was offended. Sadly the ACLU and others have succeeded in shutting this kind of thing down cold. In our attempt to produce equal opportunity inoffensiveness, we have produced equal opportunity blandness, meaninglessness and boredom.

Yet there is an undeniable connection between Jews and Christmas, other than the fact that the holiday is about the birth of a Jewish boy. Most of the well-known department stores were founded and run by Jews for generations – Macy’s (Miracle on 34th Street), Saks, Gimbel’s, Bergdorf’s, Bloomingdale’s – and that is where most of the gifts were bought.

And many of the classic carols were written by Jews. “White Christmas,” written by Irving Berlin (nee Israel Isadore Beilin) is the most popular Christmas song of all time. “Rudolph,” “Silver Bells” and others were also written by Jews. Barbra Streisand has one of the most acclaimed Christmas albums ever.

So what about Hanukkah? This relative minor holiday has been elevated to give us equal opportunity in celebration and gift giving. We light a new candle for eight successive nights to commemorate the miracle in the Temple of the flame lasting for eight days when there was only enough oil for one. That’s what the giant menorahs in New York, Brooklyn, even on Hope Street at the Chabad House are all about.

Christmas itself has major non-religious origins. It’s no accident it takes place mere days after the winter solstice, a major ancient pagan holiday full of high jinks and debauchery that celebrated the end of the darkest day of the year and the gradual renewal of the Earth. Rather than compete with it, the Church wisely co-opted it.

And many of the Christmas symbols – trees, holly and mistletoe – are hardly religious. Most scholars doubt that Jesus was born in December anyway. But what does it matter? It’s a great and joyous season no matter how it is celebrated.

So from now on, please don’t wish me “Happy Holidays,” “Season’s Greetings,” “Merry Everything” or some other insipid phrase. Wish me a “Merry Christmas” because that’s what I’ll be wishing you.

Bob Gardner lives in Sonoma, CA and is the president of The Advocacy Group in San Francisco which does brand and corporate crisis management nationally.