What's up with the "Have a Blessed Christmas" stuff?

[The empressof all]

If I hear it one more time I'm gonna scream. I have no problem with Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas, or Seasons Greeting.

Is everybody else hearing this comment this year or is it just me. I've never heard this greeting before outside of an occasional Christmas Card. But it's freaken every where now.

The clerk at the grocery store said it to me today and I nicely but firmly told her not to say that to me ...told her it was creepy. She was taken a back but I just had to tell her. Guess I'm going to hell now.

[arwalden]

1. It's Just ONE MORE Attempt To Shove It Down Your Throat

It's like picking a scab... they pick and pick, and wonder why it won't heal. And they wonder why so many people take offense.

Next year it will be "Have a Holy And Blessed Christmas"... and the year after, you can expect "Have-A-Sacred-Angelic-Holy-Blessed-Christmas-In-Christ's-Name-Our-Lord-And-Savior-Hallelujah-Amen-Praise-Jesus!" (And if you don't answer in kind, you'll be accused of being a religious bigot.)

It's just OVER THE TOP in your face acts of chauvinistic Christianity... much like the over-the-top jingoistic patriotism.

I find it creepy too!

[48pan]

2. Christian Activism is a Fad This Year

They're pissed at the ACLU and the Political Correctness movement for removing religious symbolism in public places.

[Zenlitened]

3. Possible response: "May the Goddess bless us all this Yule."

Smile brightly as her face goes rigid, and stroll merrily away. :)

[The empressof all]

4. thanks for that

I will be granting the blessings of the goddess this yuletide season upon all who offer me that creepy greeting.

[silverweb]

11. You beat me to it.

I was going to suggest simply "And Brightest Blessings to you this Yuletide." It's a bit less confrontational than mentioning the Goddess and likely to engender fewer heart attacks.

:D

[peacefreak]

26. Have a Cool Yule.

I work retail, I think I'll try it today.

[silverweb]

30. Good one!

:hi:

Let us know if you get any funny reactions. :D

[Union Thug]

5. Yep, more born again BS to keep you despising these freaks..

And I recently read about some idiots boycotting stores that use "Happy Holidays" over merry xmas.

Freaks, psychos, mentally ill, fantasy worlders...Whatever you want to call them, they are really annoying this year.

[arwalden]

7. It's Only Going To Get Worse

... just look at the proliferation of these folks on the web. By virtue of their religion, they feel that they are above reproach. If you say one word critical of Christians or religion... you're labeled an intolerant bigot. It's happening quite often here too. You'd think that we were feeding them to the lions.

[Union Thug]

18. label me intolerant...

..but the only thing I despise more than religion are the zealots that shove down other peoples' throats.

[Left Is Write]

6. No one has ever said that to me, and I live in a very religious,

conservative area. For that matter, I haven't even heard "Merry Christmas" very much - most people have been saying, "Have a great holiday!" or "Have a good Christmas!"

[Borgnine]

8. They've been really obnoxious this year.

Actually, I can remember ten years ago sitting in a church as a child hearing the pastor rail against the evils of calling it "X-Mas" (obviously he didn't know history very well) and how they needed to take it back, blah blah blah. It's nothing new, but their public crusade has never been this blatant in recent years.

I guess that "moral value" bullshit the media spun right after the fradulent election has really given the fundies a hard-on, and they're eager to fuck us all with their rhetoric.

[SmokingJacket]

9. Thank Gaaawwwd this will all be over in a week.

Wonder what annoying shit they have planned for January?

Oh yeah, that coronation baloney.

[Kat45]

10. I haven't heard it at all.

I guess you've just been lucky, huh? :shrug:

[Chovexani]

12. It's Fundie codespeak.

Born agains use it all the time. I just say "Blessed be" back and I think it kinda freaks them out. :P

[JVS]

13. I dunno, but have a very blessed Christmas

[RebelOne]

14. I hear it all the time here in Georgia.

There is one cashier at the Big Lots that I shop at who always says "have a blessed day." And now, of course, she says "Have a blessed Christmas." Being an atheist, I cringe. But she is a nice lady, so I just keep my mouth shut and thank her.

[Phentex]

24. Me too. I get "God Bless Ya " all the time...

and I haven't even sneezed!

[Lady Effingbroke]

15. I called customer service of a local store the other day

and was graced with the "Blessed Christmas" spiel courtesy of the customer service supervisor's voice mail message. I wonder how many customers decide to shop elsewhere after they hear her message?

[China_cat]

23. I had a customer once

who had on her answering machine a bible verse, a prayer and other religious crap. (I was a wholesaler and this was another business) I left her a message saying that I didn't think her religion had any reason to come before letting people know what her hours were and that from now on she'd have to call me to see if her order was ready. I wouldn't call her any more.

I lost that customer. Quite frankly, it was worth it. (She went out of business in less than a year)

[sbj405]

16. Been trying to figure out the "Have a blessed day" for awhile

I have gotten it on a number of work voicemails. Also, on a lot of Dem answering machines when I was phonebanking. Perhaps it a regional thing?

[RoyGBiv]

20. I hear that daily ...

I have guessed it comes in part from the business I work for doing away with overtly relgious overtones in its Christmas acknowledgement. We say "happy holidays," and our decoration theme is called "winter wonderland" with about the only Christmas-y thing being fake presents littered about.

Anyway, I generally ignore it because it usually comes from someone who has just spent 10 minutes complaining at me about their bill they haven't paid in two months.

[hippiechick]

31. 'Too blessed to be stressed'

:puke: See t-shirts and bumper stickers like that around 'da hood' here in Indy.

Too blessed ?
Can't find a job ? Can't feed your family ? Husband/kids in jail or cracked out ? And you're BLESSED ???

Allrightythen. :eyes:


:hippie:

[barb162]

17. I still have not actually heard it. Only read about it on DU the last

few days.

[tuvor]

19. I don't understand. You say you have no problem with "merry Christmas"

but you don't like "blessed Christmas"?

Just sounds like a nice thought to me. Or is your perception different from mine, because you're perhaps surrounded by fundies?

:shrug:

[lakemonster11]

21. I've never heard the "blessed Christmas" thing,

but I can definitely see a difference between saying "Have a blessed Christmas" and saying "Merry Christmas."

"Merry" evokes the idea of Christmas as a celebration (leaving it to the listener to determine whether for them Christmas is more about religion or family or fun or whatever). "Blessed" emphasizes the religious aspects of it. And since "Merry Christmas" is the more common greeting, "Have a blessed Christmas" really stands out as though the speaker were trying to make sure the listener takes the greeting in a religious way.

I'm sure it is almost always meant in a nice way. It just probably makes some people uncomfortable. Actually, it would probably make me feel a bit uncomfortable unless I were at church or something.

:shrug:

[ellie]

22. Who would have thought,

with all the wacky right's screaming about Liberals being politically correct in the 90s and suddenly the shoe is on the other foot? They were right, it is annoying. No one has said it to me, but if they do, I am going to say Have a Happy Kwanzaa. That should shut them up.

[Connie_Corleone]

25. Have a blessed Christmas. n/t

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

27. In WHAT WAY am I blessed?

I hear "Have a blessed day" on answering machines all the time. Bible belt.

[Dr Batsen D Belfry]

28. Two possible responses

1) And a Happy Festivus to you!
2) Assalamu Alaikum

DBDB

[BiggJawn]

29. Maybe it's a rip-off of "Blessed Be"?

But then, shouldn't it be "Have a Blessed Yule?"

On second thought, EVERYTHING in that religion is a rip-off of something else.