When people wish others a happy holiday season or just say, Happy Holidays, what exactly do they mean? The season usually begins around Thanksgiving and lasts throughNew Years Day.Thanksgiving in the United States commemorates that mythical occasion when the Pilgrims and the Indians shared a joyous meal together. So when we wish people a happy holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Years, whom are we including? Related Identity politics did not cost the Democrats the election Democrats blaiming trans rights for the loss are actually revealing their own pre-conceptions without any evidence. I suppose we cannot include Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs, some of whom celebrate Diwali (Festival of Lights), observed beginning in late Ashvin (between September and October on the Christian Gregorian calendar) and ending in early Kartika (between October and November). Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today And what about the estimated 16% of Americans (according to the Pew Research Center) who define themselves as religiously unaffiliated, atheist, agnostic, freethinker, or non-believer, as well as members of religious sects Jehovahs Witnesses that do not celebrate any holidays?What events are we including in our Seasons Greetings? A major happening that comes to mind is the winter solstice in the Northern Hemisphere: that exact split second usually occurring onDecember21 or 22 on the Christian Gregorian calendar when the earths axial tilt is farthest from the Sun.Also called the first day of winter in the Northern Hemisphere, the winter solstice marks the seasonal reversal when days begin their gradual lengthening and nights darkness shortens. Many groups celebrate the winter solstice in a number of ways, from sharing a meal to lighting candles, hanging lights, and having song and dance fests. Among many other celebrations in December, theres Hanukkah. Also known as the Festival of Lights, it is an eight-day Jewish holiday observing the rededication of the Second Holy Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 3593 on the Jewish calendar (167 BCE on the Christian Gregorian calendar), when the Maccabees conducted a revolt for independence.Hanukkah begins at sundown on the 25th of Kislev on the Jewish calendar, which falls anywhere from late November to lateDecemberon the Christian Gregorian calendar. Celebrants light candles each night on candelabra called menorahs.Kwanzaa, created by Maulana Karenga and first celebrated in 1966, honors African heritage and culture. It is commemorated annually betweenDecember26 and January 1. The name was drawn from the Swahili phrasematunda ya kwanza, meaning the first fruits of the harvest. Celebrants light candles each night on candelabra called kinaras.And then theres Christmas, a celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Though no one knows the actual date Jesus was born, most Christian denominations though not all celebrate it onDecember25. Christian cultural imperialismEarlier and earlier each year often now following Halloween merchants and media begin proclaiming, Happy Holidays. While many holidays, both religious and secular, occur around this time, Happy Holidays is in all actuality coded language for Merry Christmas and Happy (Christian) New Year. In fact, most non-Christian major holidays do not fall inDecember.How many people in the United States really care about or are even familiar with the non-Christian holidays and celebrations that fall around this time of the year? What are these Winter Parties, Winter Concerts, Winter School Breaks, and Winter Vacations really about? How many Christians would know about Hanukkah if it did not usually fall inDecember? In actuality, Hanukkah is a relatively minor Jewish historical holiday that has taken on greater importance due to its proximity to Christmas. What we are experiencing is a form of Christian cultural imperialism (hegemony), a promotion of the larger Christian culture, celebrations, values, and beliefs.I define Christian hegemony as the overarching system of advantages bestowed on Christians. It is the institutionalization of a Christian norm or standard that establishes and perpetuates the notion that all people are or should be Christian, thereby privileging Christians and Christianity and excluding the needs, concerns, cultural practices, and life experiences of people who do not define themselves as Christian. Often overt, though at times subtle, Christian hegemony is oppression by intent and design, as well as by neglect, omission, erasure, and distortion. While some of its religious significance has diminished over time as traditional Christian religious practice has entered the public square, the clearly religious meanings, symbolism, positionality and antecedents of generalized holiday observances belie any claims that the holiday has become fully secularized.The effect of the so-called secularization of religion, in fact, not only fortifies but indeed strengthens Christian privilege by perpetuating Christian hegemony in such a way as to avoid its detection as religion or to circumvent constitutional requirements for the separation of religion and government. Therefore, Christian dominance is maintained by its relative invisibility; with this invisibility, privilege is neither analyzed nor scrutinized nor interrogated nor confronted.Dominance is perceived as unremarkable or normal, and when anyone poses a challenge or attempts to reveal its religious significance, those in the dominant group brand them as subversive or sacrilegious. Examples of Christian cultural imperialism during the so-called Holiday Season are many:The constant and prolonged promotion of Christmas music in public spaces and on radio stations; Christmas specials on television throughout November andDecembereach year.Christmas decorations (often hung at taxpayer expense) in the public square in cities and towns throughout the United States.The highly visible and widespread availability in retail stores of Christian holiday decorations, greeting cards, foods, and other items during Christian holiday seasons.The president lighting the National Christmas Tree on the Ellipse behind the White House.There are many other examples, truly too numerous to list. Our society marks time through a Christian lens. Even the language we use in reference to the calendar reflects Christian assumptions.A few years ago, with increasing rapidity, we heard and read of the coming of the twenty-first century, The year 2000, and the dawning of the new millennium. Among the definitions of millennium in the Merriam-Websters Eleventh New Collegiate Dictionary (2003), definition 2a is: a period of 1000 years.Let us not forget, however, that the year 2000 is calculated with reference to the birth of Jesus, and it is, therefore, the beginning of the nextChristianmillennium. In fact, definition 1a in the same dictionary defines millennium as: the thousand years mentioned in Revelation 20 during which holiness is to prevail and Christ is to reign on earth. This fact is brought home each time we hear someone mention the date followed by in the year of our Lord, Jesus Christ. The century markers BC (before Christ) and AD (anno Domini) are clearly Christian in origin. Therefore, the year 2000 is one important milepost, though for many religious traditions it also marks a heightening of invisibility.An attempt to decenter Christian hegemony in terminology related to the marking of time is replacing BC with BCE (Before the Common Era) and AD with CE (Common Era). However, the renaming does nothing to end the marking of time before and after a common (Christian) era.Actually, this is the year 5785 on the Jewish calendar that began on the first day ofTishrei(the seventh month on the Jewish calendar, or in September this year on the Christian Gregorian calendar). The Jewish calendar is a lunar/solar hybrid with months defined by the moon and the year based on the Earths annual solar revolution.In addition, we are coming up on the year 4722 on the Chinese calendar (February 3 on the Christian Gregorian calendar). The Chinese calendar is both a lunar- and solar-based calendar. The New Year on the Islamic calendar, or Hijri, announces the year as 1446 AH, which began on the first evening of the month of Muharram, inDecemberon the Christian Gregorian calendar. In addition, we are celebrating the year 2763 on the Karen calendar. The Grinch Alert (or Cultural Pluralism) Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, organized a movement not long ago to call the season what it really is the Christmas Season and he asserted that businesses who display Happy Holidays are simply stooping to political correctness. Jeffress created a Grinch List on his website to expose businesses that he contends are taking the Christ out of Christmas.Simply stated, the pastor positioned Christians as the real victims in the current Happy Holidays epoch. In his effort to purge Happy Holidays from modern parlance, Jeffress was attempting not only to maintain but also to fortify Christian cultural imperialism though by all indications, he has nothing to fear since this form of hegemony most certainly will not be placed on the endangered list any time soon.Throughout his first term and his 2024 campaign, Donald Trump promised Americans would be able to say Merry Christmas again, as if some king or some would-be autocrat like himself declared that greeting as unlawful. We as a society face some choices. We can commit to issues of multiculturalism and diversity: We can learn about and value other peoples and customs, and we can work for true realization of the concept of cultural pluralism a term coined by the Jewish immigrant and sociologist of Polish and Latvian heritage, Horace Kallen, to challenge the image of the so-called melting pot, which he considered inherently undemocratic.Kallen envisioned a United States in the image of a great symphony orchestra, not sounding in unison (the melting pot) but rather one in which all the disparate cultures play harmoniously while retaining their unique and distinctive tones and timbres.If we are unwilling to begin this journey, however, then as offensive as it is, Pastor Jeffress and Donald Trump may have hit on something. At least they demand honesty in expressly calling it what it really is the Christmas Season. Happy Holidays, after all, was clearly created to give the false impression of inclusivity.An individual can appropriately wish a Christian Merry Christmas, of course. Can an individuals wishing others Happy Holidays inDecemberbe considered that individuals intent to work toward inclusivity? Of course! Can an individual wishing others Happy Holidays inDecemberamount to that individuals intent to decenter Christmas and Christianity? Of course!My argument, however, focuses upon a critique of the systemic structures that promote Christian privilege and hegemony within the United States (and many other Western countries). The systemic structures themselves promote Christian imperialism (hegemony), under which individuals are often unwilling and even unknowing conspirators. Wishing people Happy Holidays simply glosses over the Christian assumptions inherent during this particular time of the year.Wishing another Happy Holidays inDecembercertainly can be very nice, well-meaning, and well-intentioned. If one really wants to be sensitive and inclusive while acknowledging others cultural and religious (or non-religious) perspectives, why not wish people of other faiths Happy Holidays duringtheirholidays that are actually important? Or if they celebrate no holidays, why not be mindful of that fact?When we as a society use the generic greeting Happy Holidays inDecember, many of us may intend to promote intercultural awareness and sensitivity. But this actually has the exact opposite effect by giving most of us the excuse not to do our homework in truly investigating other cultures and other forms of celebration. When we wish others Happy Holidays inDecember, we do not have to think about when others major holidays actually occur, and we do not have to acknowledge that many people are not affiliated with religion at all.The concept of oppression, then, constitutes more than individuals cruel and repressive actions upon others. It involves an overarching system of differentials of social power and privilege exercised by dominant groups over subordinated groups, based on ascribed social identities and reinforced by unequal social group status.This is not merely the case in societies ruled by coercive or tyrannical leaders but occurs within the day-to-day practices of contemporary democratic societies such as the United States. Unpacking the knapsack of privilege (whether it be Christian, white, male, heterosexual, owning class, temporarily able-bodied, native English speakers, and others) is to become aware of and to develop critical consciousness of its existence and to recognize how it affects the daily lives of both those with and those without this privilege.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.