Need Help: Happy Holidays vs Merry Christmas

[el_d00der1n0]

Originally Posted by ODB

Along the same lines, my Catholic wife (i'm a godless heathen, for the record) rolled her eyes when she once heard someone on NPR wish everyone a "Happy Good Friday." Yay, happy day Jesus got nailed to the cross! Break out the party hats!!!!

That was probably intended for bank employees.

[sladnas]

Originally Posted by jcampbell

Its just a platform bud!

...was thinking of the Independent American Party. My bad.

[Dirty D]

I'd hate to see this client of yours be in the presidential lineup and be elected, OR be my neighbor during Christmas time.

Classic... maybe this bolshevik client of yours needs to spend some time living in Saudi Arabia if he wants to really see religion "shoved" down his throat. In fact, they'd probably give him some time in the slammer for not walking "lockstep" with the beliefs that are in place over there.

Having personally gotten a nice taste during my youth of what communism has to offer while growing up in the Czech Rep. - which was ravaged and still suffers from the aftermaths of soft-communism. I couldn't imagine living in a more tolerant place then the USA. Ok,ok...maybe Australia, NZ, Canad-ia wouldn't be soo bad either.

I'll step off the deep end here, but this guy otta chill out (especially if he's a foreigner). Christmas has been a celebrated holiday that goes back almost to the days of this country's founding.

If he don't like it here, he can pull an Alec Baldwin (still a US resident).

Over and out,

D

[speckledtrout]

I was raised Catholic but haven't practiced Catholicism since I moved out of my parents home. I love Christmas. Or should I say I love Christmas time. Not for the religious aspects, but because in spite of the commercialism of it all, it seems to be the only time of year that people go out of their way to be kinder and gentler to each other. I know people should be that way every day, but the truth is they're not, so I'll take it when I can get it...

[sheclimbs]

Originally Posted by denmother

Side note: We had an management/ethics class where we had to discuss how to tell your employees that in America it is not allowed to barbeque dog at a company picnic.

Too funny!

[Wicked Smot]

Maybe people should stop thinking the world revolves around them. If someone sent me a Happy Hanukkah card (I'm not Jewish), I would think that was cool. I don't think that they are implying that I should become Jewish, they are just sending me a greeting that represents the way THEY feel. If I remember the next year (that they were Jewish), I would even write Happy Hanukkah on the Christmas card I send them.

[schleppp]

Originally Posted by mechmann

funny thing. everyone seeks salvation through religion. why do they do this? religion has been the #1 reason for every war since gods were invented!!!!

Not so sure that all of them were religious reasons: Civil, WWI, WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Etc...

Merry Christmas and God Bless!!

[JoeTruth]

[SIZE=3]I say Happy Holidays, period!

Considering the diversity of cultures and religions we have here in the south land, unless you're strictly communicating within your own religious circle, you'd be a fool and arrogant as hell to say "Merry Christmas" and expect everyone to understand. Respect and be respected is a good formula, to start!

[/SIZE]

[schleppp]

Did anyone else hear about this!!

JEWS' SUBWAY HERO A MUSLIM

SAVES 'HANUKKAH' RIDERS FROM THUGS


By JENNIFER FERMINO, ERIKA MARTINEZ and PETER COX


GOOD FAITH: Bruised new friends (from left): rescuer Hassan Askari, beating victim Walter Adler, and Adler's gal pal, Maria Parsheva, in Brooklyn yesterday.

December 12, 2007 -- A Brooklyn man whose "Happy Hanukkah" greeting landed him in the hospital said he was saved from a gang of Jew-bashing goons aboard a packed Q train by a total stranger - a modest Muslim from Bangladesh.
PHOTOS: See pictures of the alleged suspects.
Walter Adler was touched that Hassan Askari jumped to his aid while a group of thugs allegedly pummeled and taunted him and his three friends. So Adler has invited his new friend over to celebrate the Festival of Lights.
The two new pals - Adler, 23, with a broken nose and a fat lip, and Askari, 20, with two black eyes - broke bread together and laughed off the bruises the night after the fisticuffs.
"A random Muslim guy jumped in and helped a Jewish guy on Hanukkah - that's a miracle," said Adler, an honors student at Hunter College.
"He's basically a hero. Hassan jumped in to help us."
But Askari, who is studying to be an accountant, shrugged off the praise.
"I just did what I had to do," he recalled. "My parents raised me that way."
Ten people were arrested in the underground attack on Friday night - including two men who have been arrested for race crimes before.
None of the suspects had been charged with a hate crime in the Q train attack as of last night, but the Brooklyn DA's Civil Rights Bureau is handling the case.
It all began when Adler, his girlfriend, Maria Parsheva, and two other pals boarded the subway at Canal Street bound for Brooklyn and someone in another group wished them "Merry Christmas."
Adler and his pal Angelica Krischanovich responded: "Happy Hanukkah."
Apparently, those were fighting words.
"They just came at us so fast. The first thing that came into my mind was, 'Yeah, this is going to be violent,' " said Parsheva, 20.
One of the group immediately hiked up his sleeve to reveal a tattoo of Christ.
"He said, 'Happy Hanukkah, that's when the Jews killed Jesus,' " said Adler.
The group of about 14 men and women then allegedly began taunting Adler and his pals as "dirty Jews" and "Jew bitches."
Amid a huge scrum, Askari jumped in.
"I'm bleeding all over the place, there's lots of people, they're fighting with Hassan still, and I'm like, why isn't anyone else doing anything?" Adler said.
He pulled the emergency brake right before entering the DeKalb Avenue station.
Police came aboard and arrested 10 people, charging six with assault and four with unlawful assembly.
One of those collared straphangers yesterday denied making anti-Semitic taunts and said his mother is Jewish.
Joseph Jirovec, 19 - the son of a city firefighter who is currently serving in Iraq - has pleaded guilty to a 2005 bias crime against blacks.
"We are not racist against Jewish people. That whole hate-crime thing is ridiculous," the Brooklyn man said.
He claims Adler's group was drunk and taunted his group, and one yelled, "We killed Jesus."
Jirovec will soon begin serving six months for his role in the attack against four men in Gerritsen Beach.
"I'm trying to stay out of trouble," he said. "When I get out, I want to go into the military."
Additional reporting by Sandra Hurley and Tatiana Deligiannakis jennifer.fermino@nypost.com

[gil_caz]

i find it weird that Christmas has more votes, yet it got bashed the most in this thread. not going to push any thing just trying to see why that is.

[Permagrin]

"A random Muslim guy jumped in and helped a Jewish guy on Hanukkah - that's a miracle," said Adler, an honors student at Hunter College.

I'm sorry, but I don't see a miracle. I see someone who was raised with morales and common sense and knows the difference between wrong and right so when he saw that someone needed help, he stepped up. Who care's what color or religion you are? Just my .02.

[DeeZee]

Originally Posted by jcampbell

Background...
Every year I send out Holiday/Christmas cards to clients thanking them for their business, wishing them a Merry Christmas/Happy Holiday and a prosperous new year. I also add some notes to a select few that I am closer to. And every year I contemplate on whether or not I write Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays. This year I was feeling invincible and wrote Merry Christmas. I fugured it was a nationally recognized day and on the calender as such so what the heck.

The Situation...
I got a call yesterday that has been bugging me since I got off the phone. I had a client call about why I sent a Christmas card to him. He started by saying "I'm not a christian, nor is my wife a christian." I told him, "I'm not either so whats the problem?"

For the record, I went to catholic school but haven't been to church in a while so I'm currently not practicing a set religion. I kind of made up my own that puts the focus on being a good person to everyone and everything. I lost focus for a while and this was my way of being a better person.

Anyway, back to my story, I asked, "you are an American right." he said, "Yes I am." I said, "well the American Government recognizes Christmas as a national holiday and you don't have to work that day because of it so I sent you a happy day off work card." He didn't know what to say. I was just trying to get out of the deal, but now that I think of it, I should have told him to suck it and its Christmas time no matter what you belive in. But then he said, "you have no right to force god on me." I said, "what are talking about. I sent you a Christmas card, if you don;t like it, throw it away and call it a day." I asked him, "have I ever asked you your religous beleifs?" He said "No." Then I said, "I do it for a reason because I think its personal and if I sent you something like a nice card wishing you a Merry Christmas, I am not sorry for it because I was just trying to be nice." He concluded by saying he didn't appreciate it and I basically said whatever and we hung up.

Is saying Merry Christmas that bad nowdays? The GF said I should have been smarter than that, and I said why should I? I don't think I pushed anything on the guy and his family. This damn tollerance deal is going way too far in my opinion. I try to be open to all people, even go so far as to register myself as an independent so that I listen to both sides. I listen to the people that come to the door that tell me my religion is wrong, just so I learn more about the way they think. But from the looks of whats happening in this world, it scares me to think what we'll be like in 50 years.

are you going to het his business next year

I work with and have always worked with a diverse group of people.

Happy Holidays to all

[schleppp]

Originally Posted by mechmann

if you read much about history, lots of those wars have religious reasons woven into the politics and such.

thanks for the well wishes!!

HHMMM... Let me see, I am one history class short of a BA in history... I read a little about it. Not much, if any, religion in any of the wars I suggested. However, if you are implying that people let religion affect political views and actions, then yes. Most of the wars I suggested were based on political / imperialistic ideas and differences not religion.

[Devoid169]

Christmas, in my opinion has been so diluted by commercialism that I feel its less of a religious day and more of a great day to get someone something nice. I grew up in a household that didn't observe any real religious beliefs, but being a good person to all was the main lesson taught in our house. 'Merry Christmas' for us was just a common saying to say 'let's celebrate each other for a change'. Smothering these American holidays because you have a different background IMO isn't cool. If people from other backgrounds want their specific beliefs to be tolerated, then they have to learn to 'tolerate' inherintly American traditions. There's gonna be over-zealous people everywhere and on both sides. Christmas is the biggee here in the states - it shouldn't be that big of a deal. And if people don't like it - I'm sure most of them 'tolerate' the revenue it brings in.

[jcampbell]

Originally Posted by DeeZee

Jeff,are you going to het his business next year

I work with and have always worked with a diverse group of people.

Happy Holidays to all

If he wants to leave and you need the business, maybe I'll recommend you then.

I just looked... IRA YTD is up 19% and his trading account has AAPL with cost basis of $84 something, trading now at $184 and ABAX CB of $19 and we pulled probably $6 bucks already from it thoughout the year... its trading at $35 and change.

I would hope he wouldn't leave. I would rather try and build a better realtionship with him, but hey, that's business and thats what happens when dealing with people.

Its really no big deal about his account performance. I started this thread because I needed a census of what people think. I think in any business, especially if you are an owner, you would prefer to work with people that you like to deal with and have the same view of life as you. People that you would feel comfotable inviting into your home. Obviously nothing will ever be that perfect, but I just don't want to change my feelings and beliefs just to make sure I don't offend one person. I feel that if I do this, I'll probably end up offending the masses. Plus business doesn't run my life, if it did, I would be attending 5 church services in Yorba Linda every weekend trying to meet new investors. Some people really do this. I know another advisor doing this, some construction people, as well as somebody doing it right now to sell more fruit juice in a wine bottle.

[Cowgirl]

Happy Holidays so I don't leave anybody out!

[Dirty D]

Originally Posted by jcampbell

If he wants to leave and you need the business, maybe I'll recommend you then.

I just looked... IRA YTD is up 19% and his trading account has AAPL with cost basis of $84 something, trading now at $184 and ABAX CB of $19 and we pulled probably $6 bucks already from it thoughout the year... its trading at $35 and change.

I would hope he wouldn't leave. I would rather try and build a better realtionship with him, but hey, that's business and thats what happens when dealing with people.

Its really no big deal about his account performance. I started this thread because I needed a census of what people think. I think in any business, especially if you are an owner, you would prefer to work with people that you like to deal with and have the same view of life as you. People that you would feel comfotable inviting into your home. Obviously nothing will ever be that perfect, but I just don't want to change my feelings and beliefs just to make sure I don't offend one person. I feel that if I do this, I'll probably end up offending the masses. Plus business doesn't run my life, if it did, I would be attending 5 church services in Yorba Linda every weekend trying to meet new investors. Some people really do this. I know another advisor doing this, some construction people, as well as somebody doing it right now to sell more fruit juice in a wine bottle.

Just smile and keep taking the money. If he were that unhappy with this "offensive gesture" he would have taken his marbles and gone somewhere else already.

Who the heck am I to give advice though...

D

[DeeZee]

Originally Posted by jcampbell

If he wants to leave and you need the business, maybe I'll recommend you then.

I just looked... IRA YTD is up 19% and his trading account has AAPL with cost basis of $84 something, trading now at $184 and ABAX CB of $19 and we pulled probably $6 bucks already from it thoughout the year... its trading at $35 and change.

I would hope he wouldn't leave. I would rather try and build a better realtionship with him, but hey, that's business and thats what happens when dealing with people.

Its really no big deal about his account performance. I started this thread because I needed a census of what people think. I think in any business, especially if you are an owner, you would prefer to work with people that you like to deal with and have the same view of life as you. People that you would feel comfotable inviting into your home. Obviously nothing will ever be that perfect, but I just don't want to change my feelings and beliefs just to make sure I don't offend one person. I feel that if I do this, I'll probably end up offending the masses. Plus business doesn't run my life, if it did, I would be attending 5 church services in Yorba Linda every weekend trying to meet new investors. Some people really do this. I know another advisor doing this, some construction people, as well as somebody doing it right now to sell more fruit juice in a wine bottle.