Wishing Others "Merry Christmas" Is TRULY Inclusive

We're being taught that telling other people "Merry Christmas" is not being "inclusive." Here's why that's not true.

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"Submitted for Your Approval...."

Nemo stopped believing in religion long ago. He was backpacking through an area remote even for Nepal in December. He found himself in the fiercest snowstorm he had ever experienced. This snowstorm was so bad he ended up frozen in place under whiteout conditions. It was just a matter of time before he would be left for dead.

Shortly after Nemo lost consciousness he was rescued by a man who lived in the area. He found Nemo in his frozen state, and he carried him to his home on a makeshift sled.

A few days later, Nemo had been thawed from his frozen state. Nemo was still alive, although he was chilled to the bone marrow from his experience.

After a while, Nemo was warm enough to be able to speak slowly. Luckily for Nemo, his rescuer knew basic English. After all, it was 2022 and nearly every corner of the world was reachable by Internet. He was even a fan of both Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant.

The snowstorm continued to rage, so his rescuer wanted Nemo to stay with his family until calm weather returned to his part of Nepal.

The family made sure Nemo was fully nourished to give him the strength he needed to resume backpacking through Nepal. Nemo appreciated what his rescuer's family had done for him, and he was sad that he didn't have anything to offer the family in return.

Just as Nemo left the home of his rescuer, he heard him say something he hadn't expected to hear from anyone in Nepal, especially in the remote part where he was.

"Merry Christmas!" said Nemo's rescuer with a smile so large only the 😁 emoji could describe it perfectly.

Not being religious, yet grateful to still be alive to scratch his head at this strange moment, Nemo was at a loss for words. If any human being could be the model for the 😅 emoji, it would be Nemo.

After a moment of confusion, Nemo asked his rescuer "Thank you so much, but why do you say this to me? I'm not religious."

His rescuer simply answered, "We have much to celebrate this time of year."

Nemo pondered this answer as he slowly nodded. Then Nemo said "You know what? We do have much to celebrate this time of year. Thank you for reminding me of this."

"You're welcome," said the man.

"Merry Christmas to you and your family," said Nemo before he resumed his backpacking through Nepal.

🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄🎅🎄

Wishing Someone "Merry Christmas" Is Wanting Joy for That Person

One of the biggest complaints I hear about people wishing "Merry Christmas" to people who don't celebrate Christmas is that "it's not inclusive" to those who aren't Christians.

This is simply not true.

Christmas is supposed to be a joyous time of the year. Depending on where we live, it's one reason we hear "Christmas music" everywhere all the time. It's why some people spend thousands of dollars on their electricity bill during this "most wonderful time of year" when they could be earning 20% on HBD placed in savings instead.

Without getting religious or doctrinal, Christmas is about anticipating the Light of the World to break up the darkness in which we find ourselves as the seasons change from autumn to winter in the north.

Once this takes place, we have reason to celebrate. We have reason to make the celebration as large as possible. We don't even care if others share our beliefs; we just want others to enjoy the moment as much as we enjoy it.

It's in this way we are being inclusive of others when we wish them "Merry Christmas."

I'm guessing its similar whether the holiday is Hanukkah, either Eid, Diwali, ID4, the 4th of July, Bastille Day, ..., or even a victory at the FIFA World Cup or the Olympics.

Holidays are moments of joy meant to be shared. The way the world is these days, we need all the joy we can find. Even if we choose not to celebrate, we should be happy that others thought enough of us to consider us part of their celebrations.

Besides, if anyone has complaints or grievances about this, there's a holiday for that: Festivus on December 23rd.

Merry Christmas!

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