PHOENIX - Some might call it the December Debate -- do you greet people with “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays"?
A Valley woman, who’s also a bell ringer for the Salvation Army, says she was assaulted for choosing the wrong one.
Kristina Vindiola says a woman hit her outside the Wal-Mart on 91st Avenue and Thomas Road after she said "Happy Holidays."
"The lady looked at me,” said Vindiola. “I thought she was going to put money in the kettle. She came up to me and said, 'Do you believe in God?' And she says, ‘You're supposed to say Merry Christmas,' and that's when she hit me."
Vindiola says the woman hit her in the arm and then went inside the store. She told a manager who then called police. Shoppers we spoke with understand how some people can get offended.
43 comments
Well that's sure showing them the Christmas spirit...
"Shoppers we spoke with understand how some people can get offended."
Nope. If you get offended over someone telling you "Happy Holidays" you are a dick, that's all there is to it. There shouldn't be any "understanding" or tolerance for these selfabsorbed dolts.
Right. There is nothing wrong with "happy holidays" or "seasons greetings" except for the fundamentalist attitude of dominance and their constant pretense of being persecuted.
They literally spend the whole Christmas season pissed off about nothing, continually winding themselves up with anger because not everyone name drops Christ in every conversation or greeting. Who's ruining Christmas now? We Atheists and moderate Christians here had a lovely holiday, despite financial tightness.
If anyones putting a harsh on the holidays it's your funless intolerant crowd of deluded idiots.
"Shoppers we spoke with understand how some people can get offended."
Maybe they can explain it to me, because I certainly don't.
Also, it literally is "holidays": Christmas Eve, 1st Day of Christmas, 2nd Day of Christmas and New Year's Eve, New Years. Thats 5 fucking holidays right there.
"Shoppers we spoke with understand how some people can get offended. "
...there's nothing understandable about being offended by well-wishers, much less physically assaulting them.
I, too, understand how some people can get offended.
Those people are ARSE_wholes!
> Shoppers we spoke with understand how some people can get offended.
[wiseguy]Offended isn't the word I'd choose after being hit.[/wiseguy]
Also, Fundies Do The Darnedest Things.
Feel the Christian love: physically assaulting someone for saying the correct thing (really, think about it - Christmas is one day; the holidays are like a week).
One wonders if anyone has been assaulted by those dirty Pagan, possibly also Muslim somehow, devoid-of-morals atheists for saying "merry Christmas". One would imagine not, because it's generally assumed to be a retarded thing to get irritated about.
Funny thing is when I was growing up, if you said "Happy Holidays", "Season's Greetings", or just plain "Have a nice day" during the holiday season, nobody cared.
""The lady looked at me,” said Vindiola. “I thought she was going to put money in the kettle. She came up to me and said, 'Do you believe in God?' And she says, You're supposed to say Merry Christmas,' and that's when she hit me."
Vindiola says the woman hit her in the arm and then went inside the store. She told a manager who then called police. Shoppers we spoke with understand how some people can get offended."
In Ms. Vindiola's position, I'd have said, 'Well, seeing as this time of year was originally the Pagan Winter Solstice Festival, I'd have said "Happy Winter Solstice"', and not only sue her into oblivion for doing worse than just hit me on the arm, but feel the warm hyper-smugness of me being free as a bird, and she - a supposedly Christian person - doing a few years in the can for GBH.
And this happened to a member of the Salvation Army?! 'Turn the other cheek' indeed. Feel that Christain Love. I know who I'll be making a donation to - and I'm an Atheist .
So much for the 'Church', the 'Body of Christ', if there are tens of thousands of denominations. And the likes of that assaultee considering herself being 'Persecuted'...?! [/Auschwitz]
So much for a loving religion. If you need to assault someone for merely wishing you well (Happy holidays and Merry Christmas are basically both saying have a nice day) it says something about you.
"Shoppers we spoke with understand how some people can get offended."
So can I, the shopper assaulted someone for wishing her well. Oh that wasn't the offensive part? Then check your moral compass. You can no longer say atheists are the immoral ones.
Yes, because we all know the proper way to celebrate Jesus's birth is to slug someone.
You know, I usually just repeat back whatever greeting that someone first says to me, because I generally like getting along with people, and not resorting to violence. I guess I'm just funny that way.
Makes one wonder what would have happened if she got wished a Merry Yule instead.
pedantically:
"holidays" is derived from "holy days"
I would have thought, in this context, Xians should approve
According to the manual, Vidiola was then obliged to turn the other shoulder.
Isn't it funny. When someone says. "Merry Christmas" to me, I say "Merry Christmas" back. I guess I'm supposed to go apeshit and scream at them that I'm an atheist, so Christians like this asshole can still claim the moral high ground.
I am SO happy that I live in Sweden, where we say "God Jul" (Good Yule).
I can NOT understand how some people can get offended when someone says "Happy Holy Days!", no.
I get offended if someone says "Fuck You", but maybe I'm a bit strange...
Ah, but the Salvation Army actually go out there and help the homeless, the hungry, the addicts, that's far too much like 'salvation through works' to a sola scriptura fundie to whom the poor are just those low-lifes you drive past on the way to your mega-church.
I worked for the Salvation army which being a Christian Organisation wanted it's bell ringers to say Mary Christmas over Happy holidays, especially the closer to Christmas it got. As a Deist it honestly does not bother me to say Mary Christmas, it's just two words with no meaning to me.
It's a pity Bing Crosby isn't still alive, all these idiots could go hit him for making the phrase popular. Oh well, I guess they could go beat up all the greeting card manufacturers who have used the phrase since the 1940s.
That’s exactly what Jesus would have done.
Isn’t the Salvation Army a Christian organization?
In my “nick of the woods” it has always (as far as I can tell) been customary to wish people “Schöne Feiertage” (literally “beautiful/nice holidays”) in the time before Christmas. Because as others already pointed out, even for Christians there are more than one holiday during that time. That makes this whole “war on Christmas” thing even more ridiculous
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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