Merry Christmas vs. Happy Holidays

Thanks to my opponent for the debate! I'll respond to Con in the order of argument he's presented... 1. First, Con says that I have not stated why saying "Merry Christmas" is better than saying "Happy Holidays." I have actually refuted this in 2 ways, and explained explicitly how in the last round. First, I said that my burden isn't necessarily to prove that saying "Merry Christmas" is better but simply that it is equally appropriate. Second, even if for some reason you would assume that my burden is to prove that saying "Happy Holidays" is BETTER, I have already explicitly stated in the last round that, "saying 'Merry Christmas' shouldn't be considered taboo or politically incorrect simply because people have a right to say it, it's not offensive, and it is more of a personal and genuine greeting to those who believe in Christmas." Therefore Con is incorrect in saying that I have not fulfilled a burden or ignored something in particular. 2. Con says that "Merry Christmas" refers to a specific day and therefore it is not as acceptable to say. However, people start saying "Happy Holidays" from late November to early January, generally through New Years Day [1] though Christmas is only on one of those days, and Hanukkah and Kwanzaa only last for 7-8 days out of that 28 day period. In other words, there is no actual holiday going on during the times when people say "Happy Holidays" for 3/4 of the time. Therefore it is implied that "Happy Holidays" is a general greeting just as "Merry Christmas" is a general greeting and they generally mean the same thing. Neither greeting actually implies that there is an actual holiday going on during that day. If that were true, then people wouldn't say "Happy holidays" long after something like Hanukkah has ended. Even more proof is the fact that Kwanzaa in particular begins AFTER Christmas on December 26 [2], which is usually when people stop saying "Happy Holidays." The point here is that when people say "Merry Christmas" they say it long before the actual Christmas day therefore you can't say that "Merry Christmas" only acknowledges one day and "Happy holidays" acknowledges more than one day. The fact is that those phrases both, in general, mean the same thing and there is no actual way to know if someone is celebrating something, therefore the phrase is generally a representation of what the individual celebrates. If one chooses to take offense, that is their preoperative; however, it is just as offensive to assume that one celebrates any holiday to begin with. 3. Con acknowledges that there are more religions aside from atheism, which proves absolutely nothing. I've already acknowledged this and actually listed a bunch of the world's most popular religions in order, so...? My point was that saying "Happy holidays" assumes one is either Christian, Jewish or celebrates the African culture - which is no different or better than assuming someone celebrates just Christianity. 4. Con says that "Merry Christmas" excludes Judaism and Kwanzaa. That's entirely true - and so what? It's not my job or anyone else's job to make everyone feel included. If Wal-Mart wanted to hang a giant sign that said, "Merry Christmas!" then that would be their prerogative. If people felt excluded - oh well. Once again, this is no different than Atheists feeling excluded (or awkward) about "Happy holidays," and I'm sure it's no different from how Muslims might feel excluded since Wal-Mart doesn't hang a sign that says, "Happy Ramadan." Also, many times the holidays of Easter and Passover over-lap; for instance Passover in 2010 lasted from March 29 to April 5 [3] and Easter for Christians was on April 4. However, nobody said "Happy holidays" despite the fact that 2 major religions were both celebrating holidays at that time. Instead, one either said "Happy Passover" or "Happy Easter," and if the person receiving the greeting did not celebrate either/or holiday, then they would simply make a correction if they felt so inclined. No harm no foul. 5. Con says, "Just because we can say it [Merry Christmas] doesn't man that we should say it or that it is better or more respectful." Once again, the exact same thing can be said about "Happy holidays." Con also has not shown why saying "Merry Christmas" is disrespectful. Also, I don't think that saying "Happy holidays" is more respectful simply because it includes the holiday of one other faith (Judaism) - especially because it implies that one is either Christian or Jewish, as if no other religion or belief system exists. 6. Con notes that 52% of Americans feel offended by the saying, "Merry Christmas." However, this statistic should hold absolutely no weight. For one, CON NEVER CITED THIS SOURCE meaning we have no incentive to believe him. Second, 83% of Americans identify as Christian [4] ... so how can Con's statistic be true?! If more than 8 out of 10 people are Christian, then how can more than 5 out of 10 feel offended by the phrase, "Merry Christmas?" I Google'd this statistic and could not find it anywhere [5]. However, I did find that Rasmussen Reports reported 69% of Americans usually greet each other with "Merry Christmas" anyway [6] and since most people are Christian, many actually get offended when people say "Happy holidays" to them instead. In fact, "A 2005 survey by Pew Research found that 42 percent of Americans preferred the "Merry Christmas" greeting over the non-religious "Seasons Greetings." But 45 percent of Americans said it did not matter what greeting they received" [7]. The same source expresses how political correctness should never trump our first amendment right to free speech, which is what I was explaining in Point 1 and how I countered Con's argument. Conclusion: Con ends by saying that "Happy holidays" is more appropriate because while both terms are inclusive and exclusive, the phrase "H H" includes more people. However, I've already explained two things. One - Since 83% of Americans are Christian, it's really not THAT more inclusive. Two - Since all other holidays are ignored, and Atheists do not fit into either category, Con is essentially saying "Well it's okay if we make the Muslims feel left out so long as we include the Christians, Jews and Africans." This presents a double standard and does not solve the dilemma that there will be people left out and/or offended either way. In that case, it's best to let people say whichever phrase they prefer -- probably "Merry Christmas" since most people are Christian -- and be open minded if others get offended at people's right to free speech. Thank you and good luck! [1] http://en.wikipedia.org... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org... [3] http://en.wikipedia.org... [4] http://abcnews.go.com... [5] http://www.google.com... [6] http://www.associatedcontent.com... [7] http://my.journalstar.com...