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Terms Which Have Disappeared

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I wonder if the same people who make smart nuanced arguments about why a country like ours - whose traditions and history are deeply entwined with Christianity / whose "culture" one could say has a Christian imbuing - should shift toward Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas would make the same argument that, say, a predominately Arabic country, with Christian and Buddhist minority cultures, should not use Arabic expressions for, say holiday greetings, and, instead, find generic ones to make the Christian and Buddhist minorities feel more included. Or, would these same people be arguing that we should respect the history and traditions of a predominately Arabic country and let them continue using their Arabic expressions.

IMHO, either view has an argument. One, all countries and cultures should "homogenize" their traditions and customs to make every minority within that country feel included or, two, a country should keep its historical traditions and customs out of respect to its history and majority and that the minorities in those countries should understand that is part of the bargain one strikes living in a country with a different majority culture.
 

3fingers

One Too Many
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1,795
Location
Illinois
I wonder if the same people who make smart nuanced arguments about why a country like ours - whose traditions and history are deeply entwined with Christianity / whose "culture" one could say has a Christian imbuing - should shift toward Happy Holidays versus Merry Christmas would make the same argument that, say, a predominately Arabic country, with Christian and Buddhist minority cultures, should not use Arabic expressions for, say holiday greetings, and, instead, find generic ones to make the Christian and Buddhist minorities feel more included. Or, would these same people be arguing that we should respect the history and traditions of a predominately Arabic country and let them continue using their Arabic expressions.

IMHO, either view has an argument. One, all countries and cultures should "homogenize" their traditions and customs to make every minority within that country feel included or, two, a country should keep its historical traditions and customs out of respect to its history and majority and that the minorities in those countries should understand that is part of the bargain one strikes living in a country with a different majority culture.
I would agree that both arguments can be made. My point of annoyance is with the small number who get offended by others offering a greeting when there is no ill will or proselytizing involved. If being offered a cheerful greeting is the worst thing that happens to you this week, you are doing pretty well.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
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Let's keep the boxing in Boxing Day!

History_Louis_vs_Schmelling_Rematch_Speech_SF_still_624x352.jpg
 
Messages
17,263
Location
New York City
I would agree that both arguments can be made. My point of annoyance is with the small number who get offended by others offering a greeting when there is no ill will or proselytizing involved. If being offered a cheerful greeting is the worst thing that happens to you this week, you are doing pretty well.

You, IMHO, are spot on. Ninety percent of the world's problems - at least of these types - could be solved if people would operate from a presumption of good will by others. Living in NYC, which has a large Jewish population, occasionally, I'm wished a Happy Hanukkah or good this or that for other Jewish Holidays.

My response if it is from someone I hardly know / probably won't interact with again is to thank them and wish them the same. If it is someone who might be embarrassed later to learn that I'm not Jewish, I'll thank them, wish them the same and mention that I'm not Jewish, but love all Holidays.

Something is off in someone's meter if being sincerely wished a good holiday that they don't celebrate in anyway offends.
 
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Yep. Aryan supremacy goes down in 2:44. You don't hear the phrase "The Great White Hope" anymore.

Yup, that was a serious can of a-whooping Louis opened up on Schmeling in the second fight. As I know you know, to be fair to Schmeling, he was more a pawn than anything else in the Nazi Superman stuff. Also, cool that Louis and he connected again after the war.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
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Schmeling became a Coca-Cola bottler after the war and did quite well at it -- one of the few sports celebrities of his time to have a genuinely successful post-athletic career.

4619505af9ac46c8bffe977bb2c85ffb-jpg.jpg


He and Louis became good friends in their later years, to the point where Schmeling was not only one of Louis's pallbearers in 1981, he helped pay for the funeral.

It's hard for people today to understand what Louis-Schmeling II meant to the United States in 1938 -- it was one of the most-listened-to radio broadcasts in the history of the medium. It's also one of the most thrilling sports broadcasts ever -- Clem McCarthy pretty near pops an artery doing the blow-by-blow. The only people in the US unhappy about the outcome -- with the exception of Fritz Kuhn and the KKK -- were the advertising department at General Motors, who had paid a very large sum to sponsor what turned out to be a fifteen-minute broadcast.
 

scottyrocks

I'll Lock Up
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9,178
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Isle of Langerhan, NY
This brings to mind a question I have always had. Is it acceptable for a non Jewish person to wish you a Happy Hanukkah? I have not been well acquainted with very many Jewish people, as there simply are not many in this area. The one I knew best wished me a Merry Christmas and I wished him a Happy Hanukkah, but I'm not sure how observant he was. I am just curious if this is widely done.

Acceptable? Sure, why not. I say Merry Christmas, and mean it, but am not of that faith. I also happily accept greetings of Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday(s).

Also, keep in mind that the only reason Hanukkah (or Chanukah, take your pick) gets any notoriety at all by the non-Jewish populace is because it happens to fall during the Christmas season. It is actually considered a minor holiday.

Aside from an occasional mention on the news (and the airing of The Ten Commandments (1956), no other Jewish holiday except maybe Passover gets any press, again, maybe because it falls near Easter.

It's all about being pleasant and being in the spirit of things, afaic. Why everyone can't be like this all year puzzles me.
 

BlueTrain

Call Me a Cab
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2,073
Acceptable? Sure, why not. I say Merry Christmas, and mean it, but am not of that faith. I also happily accept greetings of Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday(s).

Also, keep in mind that the only reason Hanukkah (or Chanukah, take your pick) gets any notoriety at all by the non-Jewish populace is because it happens to fall during the Christmas season. It is actually considered a minor holiday.

Aside from an occasional mention on the news (and the airing of The Ten Commandments (1956), no other Jewish holiday except maybe Passover gets any press, again, maybe because it falls near Easter.

It's all about being pleasant and being in the spirit of things, afaic. Why everyone can't be like this all year puzzles me.
Well, actually, it's the other way around. Easter falls near Passover. Passover came first.

And by the way, does anyone say "sound as the dollar" anymore?
 

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