The Weekend Holiday Hole, Sat-Sun, Dec 24-25: Happy Holidays

The next few days bring several holidays not only to the US, but to the world. At sundown, Saturday, Dec 24, Jews begin celebrating the liberation of Jerusalem from the occupation of Antiochus IV, king of the Seleucid Empire in 165 BCE, which you know better as Hanukkah. And on Sunday, Dec 25, Christians throughout the world celebrate the birth of Jesus, which you know better as Christmas. Of course, in both cases there are many non-religious observations of the holidays by hundreds of millions of people throughout the world. And there are several billion people, about two-thirds of the world’s population, who observe neither holiday. So people like Bill O’Reilly need to understand that it is no more appropriate to wish strangers a Happy Hanukkah if you don’t know they’re Jewish than it is to wish strangers a Merry Christmas if you don’t know they’re Christian. Either way, there’s a two out of three chance you’re wrong. And since the entire point of saying anything is to tell them you hope they enjoy the upcoming holidays (including the ones that follow over the course of the next week), and not to offend them, it’s completely appropriate to say to them, “Happy Holidays,” and thank them for whatever they wish back at you, even if it doesn’t apply to you. They’re trying to be nice to you even if they loathe you as much as I. So, in the spirit of the holidays and because I just know it pisses you off so much, I want to say to you, Bill O’Reilly, “Happy Holidays.”

And happy and safe holidays to Everyone. May you find joy and happiness in the comfort of friends and/or family, or peace in the solitude of contemplation. And may the world go just one day without people trying to kill each other. Is that really too much to ask?

Happy Holidays. This is our daily open thread. Feel free to discuss any topic you wish. Peace.