Political Correctness Vs Christmas Essay

Political Correctness vs. Christmas Traditions Christmas has long been a widely celebrated holiday around the world which brings in millions of dollars of revenue into the retail industry. Other than being known for gift-giving and spending a gracious amount of money on others, Christmas is also known for spending time with family and friends and feeling a sense of joy that is only felt during this time of year. Although, the past few years haven’t been exactly joyous because of the arguments over whether we should greet others by saying “merry Christmas” or “happy holidays.” It has become such a big issue that even President-elect Donald Trump stated “If I become president, we’re gonna be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ at every store…You can leave ‘Happy Holidays’ at the corner” (Austin). Being politically correct is important in many aspects, but not when it comes to Christmas. The holiday is and has been for many years celebrated by people everywhere, even non-Christians, so it shouldn’t matter which greeting we choose to use. While Christmas is a Christian-based holiday which celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, non-Christians have also
The major retail businesses will do whatever it takes to acquire more customers and to take in more money and part of this involves which greeting they use during the Christmas season. Retail companies have no way of knowing which greeting the majority of their customers use, so they use a generic one in hopes that no one will be offended. “A big part of advertising is being relatable and personable to your customers, and if you don’t celebrate Christmas, a sign saying “Merry Christmas” is not something you can relate to and it is a subconscious cue that that store is not for you. Sure eighty percent or more of Americans celebrate Christmas, but stores want the other twenty percent to buy their stuff too”