INDEPTH: HOLIDAYS
"Christmas" vs. "holidays"
The festive fireworks over that time in December
CBC News Online | December 9, 2005
Merry Chistmas? Or Happy Holidays?
A Christmas party? Or a Holiday Party?
A Christmas Tree? Or a Holiday Tree?
The "Christmas" versus "holiday" debate seems to flare up somewhere every season – often when a city council or school board chooses to rename a thing, event or celebration to remove a specific reference to the Christian holiday of Christmas.
In 2005, the tinsel hit the fan when word got out that Boston was calling the huge tree it gets from the province of Nova Scotia each year a "holiday tree" on its official website. Christian televangelists threatened to sue. A columnist in the Boston Globe, who is Jewish, called it part of the "annual effort to neuter Christmas."
Back in Beech Hill, Nova Scotia, the spruce tree grower who provided the tree in question said he wouldn't have sent it if he'd known it would be called a "holiday" tree, calling the whole incident "a bunch of bullcrap."
"We're trying to be inclusive," Boston's parks commissioner told CBC News. But the mayor of Boston said he didn't care what the city's website said; he'd still call it a Christmas tree.
The whole fuss prompted the town council in Oxford, Nova Scotia to pass a motion banning the use of "holiday" to describe the Christmas season. "We’re getting fed up with the term," the mayor was quoted as saying. That generated a new round of criticism from some non-Christian leaders who pointed out that, while they had no problem with the term Christmas, they did have a problem with Oxford passing laws on religious grounds.
And so it goes. In a society that is increasingly non-Christian, the movement is on to adopt non-religious names and symbols for a holiday period that is unquestionably religious in origin. Department stores advertise their holiday specials. Many companies and organizations (the CBC included) stage what they call a "holiday" party for staff.
Supporters say it’s simply showing respect for the growing numbers who belong to religious minorities – an effort to be sensitive to the fact that many people are not members of the dominant religion. Others call it politically correct nonsense.
To be sure, North American society – especially Canadian society – is becoming more and more non-Christian. The 2001 census showed that 70 per cent of Canadians identified themselves as either Roman Catholic or Protestant. In the 1971 census, those two Christian denominations accounted for 90 per cent of Canadians.
What happened in those 20 years? A lot of immigration from countries where there aren’t a lot of Christians. In the 1990s, for example, 89 per cent of the immigrants welcomed to this country were not Christians. The 2001 census showed that the number of Muslims, Hindus, Sikhs and Buddhists had more or less doubled since the last census 10 years earlier. Collectively, those four religious affiliations now account for about five per cent of Canada’s population.
The growing multicultural fact of Canadian life has made the country's policy-makers especially sensitive to policies – even names – that could be seen to be exclusive to non-Christians who, after all, pay taxes and go shopping too.
Many non-Christians, of course, do mark religious holidays or festivals in the fall or winter months. Jews mark Hanukkah – the festival of lights – usually in December. Many Buddhists mark Bodhi Day on Dec. 8. Many Canadians of African heritage celebrate Kwanzaa in December. Hindus celebrate Diwali – the festival of lights – in either October or November.
The "let's celebrate everyone's holidays" theme was the thrust of a 1998 declaration made by the city council of Birmingham, England. The city, which is home to many non-Christians, declared its Christmas-time festivities would be called Winterval. Critics said the council was trying to take the "Christ out of Christmas" and accused it of being overly sensitive. In the end, the name didn’t catch on. Birmingham's official website now has a special feature on "Christmas in Birmingham."
In November 2005, a staff member at Rideau Hall said in a CBC interview that a "holiday tree" would be put up at the Governor General’s official residence.
"We find it reflects the traditions of many cultures and is inclusive," the spokeswoman said.
One day later, it was back to being called a Christmas tree. Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean made it clear that she'd always called it a Christmas tree and wasn't about to stop.
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Canadian men spend an average of $216 on gifts for their spouse
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