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The Eagle

Opinion: Holiday hate

By Mackenzie Wilson — Whether you celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or any another holiday this season, can we all just get along?

It is getting to the point where people are becoming way too sensitive about their special holiday being honored. There is no reason why I cannot say “Merry Christmas” to a stranger or a friend without offending them.

As a raised Christian I celebrate Christmas, so it is more than likely I will tell someone “Merry Christmas” during this time of year. But there is no reason for me to ever be offended if someone told me “Happy Hanukkah”.  A simple response of, “Thank you, you too,”that would easily come out of my mouth. Just the fact the person took the time out of his or her day to wish me a nice Hanukkah would make me satisfied. I would not be appalled that someone tried to wish me a good holiday.

Am I supposed to assume if you are African-American then you must celebrate Kwanzaa. We are taught not to judge, so how is possible to know what every individual person celebrates.

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Let us face it; the majority of the people in the United States celebrate Christmas anyway, so of course it is going to be the dominant holiday. Almost every school around the country in the past has had purely Christmas Concerts, but now we must have ‘Winter’ Concerts. The fact that they have to feel obligated to do so is troublesome.

If a family celebrated Hanukkah, and their child was in a Christmas concert, I would hope that they would be just as happy as any other parent seeing their child sing cheerfully.  It would not matter what holiday they were singing about, as long as they were happy to show off their hard work.

Now that Christmas concerts for public schools are considered offensive, public displays of Christmas themed decorations are offending people. In cities all over the country, nativity sets are being banned from city centers.  How is a nativity set bothering people? Nativity sets are beautiful. Is the light up plastic Mary really ruining your life?

The point of all these winter holidays was never to be offended. The point of this  time of year is to bring family and friends together. It is a time for giving back and being thankful.

[Updated Aug. 7, 2017: This article has been reformatted for consistency.]

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Opinion: Holiday hate