“7 O’clock News / Silent Night:” Why say “Happy Holidays?”

This meme has been circulating on social media offering one reason for saying “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas.” It’s a reason I had not considered:

When someone wishes you “Happy Holidays,” they do it out of respect.

“…at least 14 different religious holidays” between November 20th and January 24th? Wow!

Finding that hard to believe, I decided to do some research. I compiled this list of 28 holidays in that timeframe, including Kwanza, an ethnic celebration, and New Year’s Day, a secular celebration.

Martyrdom of Guru Bahadur (Sikh)
Feast of Christ the King (Christian)
Ascension of ’Abdu’l-Bahá (Baháʼí)
Hanukkah (Jewish)
Advent (Christian)
St. Andrew’s Feast Day (Catholic)
Feast of St. Francis Xavier (Catholic)
Feast of the Immaculate Conception (Catholic)
Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Catholic)
Asara B’Tevet (Jewish)
Las Posadas (Christian)
Winter Solstice (Pagan)
Yule (Pagan and Wiccan)
Christmas Eve and Christmas Day (Christian)
St. Stephen’s Day (Christian)
Kwanzaa (ethnic)
Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God (Catholic)
New Year’s Day (secular)
Oshogatsu—Japanese New Year (Shinto)
Epiphany or Three Kings Day (Christian)
Orthodox Christmas (Orthodox Christian)
Maghi (Sikh)
Makar Sankrati (Hindu)
World Religion Day (Baha’i)
Tu BiShvat (Jewish)
Guru Gobind Singh’s Birthday (Sikh)
Bodhi Day (Buddhist)
Tu Bishvat (Jewish)

My compilation of holidays observed by 9 religions includes 6 of the world’s top 7 religions as ranked by number of followers:

Christianity (2.38 billion)
Hinduism (1.16 billion)
Buddhism (506 million)
Shintoism (104 million)
Sikhism (25 million)
Judaism (14 million)
Baháʼí (8 million)
Paganism
Wicca

Searching for my title song

I was unfamiliar with two of the nine religions and 22 of the 28 holidays. While searching for my title song for this post, I came across something else I did not know—another reminder of how beliefs, attitudes, and assumptions can become entrenched and questioning them the furthest thing from our minds.

The Christmas hymn “Oh Holy Night” is beloved worldwide, and I am no exception. What I did not know is that its lyricist Placide Cappeau was an atheist, and its composer Adolphe Adams was Jewish. Because of its origin, “Oh Holy Night” was initially banned by the Catholic Church!

I was looking for a well-known song/artist from this time of year that sang about the holiday season rather than one specific holiday. Such a song proved quite difficult to come by. I finally chose the last track on Simon and Garfunkel’s “Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, and Thyme” (October 1966), a juxtaposition of their performance of “Silent Night” with Charlie O’Donnell’s reading of a simulated news bulletin using actual events of August 3, 1966.

If you have never heard “7 O’clock News / Silent Night,” I urge you to take the time to listen before reading on. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JkJlmYwMgRM

The 1966 news bulletin includes our House of Representatives attempting to degrade the Civil Rights Bill, the death of a celebrity due to an overdose, a protest march, mass murder, and a political investigation of anti-Vietnam protests while Nixon encourages expanding the war effort in Vietnam.

Comparing the news then and now

Compare the topics reported on that day in history—August 3, 1966—to present-day reportage: challenges to civil rights enshrined into law, celebrities dying from overdoses, protests, mass murders, political investigations, and wars.

In 1966 celebrity deaths such as that of Lenny Bruce due to overdose were rare. Today, with the ever-worsening opioid crisis, they abound. And contrast the title of a piece by Jojo Galvan on the gruesome murder of eight student nurses in Chicago in 1966: “The First Mass Murderer: Richard Speck in Chicago” to the count of 385 mass shootings this year alone in the US as of September.

In the song, the reading of the news becomes louder and louder until it nearly overwhelms the singing of “Silent Night.” This serves to emphasize the discrepancy between the serenity of the song and the turbulence of the news.

The very sound of the news seems to have changed since 1966. Today’s news has crescendoed to a feverish volume, almost regardless of the story.

How, in this holiday season, might we lower the volume and recapture some of that serenity?

Reviving an outtake from The FOG MACHINE

For me, the holidays are about welcoming and belonging. And so, I say “Happy Holidays” as one way to make others feel they belong and are welcome.

Opposites of welcoming and belonging are exclusion and alienation. By excluding and alienating, we turn people into “the other.” Understanding “the other” and using that understanding to bridge divides compels me, especially as a writer.

To illustrate—and as my holiday gift to you— I hope you enjoy this “outtake” from The FOG MACHINE.

In this scene, my intent was to build on the feeling of not belonging that originally brings C.J. and Zach together in the deli, when his telling of how his father was treated as a Jew reminds her of her life under Jim Crow. I sought to present an opportunity to strengthen their connection as each reacts to Zach’s feelings of alienation at Christmas.

Choosing what to say during this holiday season

Then why say “Happy Holidays” rather than “Merry Christmas?”

What are the chances you’ll be interacting with someone from another religion or belief system, rather than one of the billions who observe Christmas, whether as a religious or a cultural celebration?

Perhaps the chances are small. But then again, taking care to make others feel they belong and are seen and respected for who they are is such a small act of kindness towards a better world. A small act of kindness that just might help us lower the volume and recapture some serenity.