It’s that time of year again. Soon after reading this article, you’ll probably be heading home to stuff yourselves with turkey and mashed potatoes. Some of you will go temporarily insane over the 4 a.m. deals on Black Friday. If you live anywhere in a place where there are actually seasons, the fall foliage will be dropping. At some point, either here when you return for finals or at home, you will inevitably wish someone “happy holidays.”

Before you do such an absurd thing as to give someone this meaningless greeting, I beg you actually consider this: What leads you to say “happy holidays” rather than wishing someone a “Merry Christmas”?

The United States, by nature of the first amendment, allows anyone to practice any religion that they want to, and provides that no state religion be formally established. This is one of our most fundamental rights, and it deserves the praise and celebration we give it. However, in our society’s pursuit of “tolerance” and “celebration” of the diverse people that collectively make up our great nation, we have allowed ourselves to succumb to ploys which lead to the exact opposite.

Political correctness, all too often used interchangeably with tolerance, is a complete perversion of our common ideal of goodwill toward all. The prostration of Christmas, a celebration that holds importance to nearly 80 percent of our population and is celebrated by nearly 95 percent of our country, is just one example of this. Christmas is one of few official holidays recognized by the federal government, one of the only days on which basically all government buildings close. Yes, I realize Christmas coincides with the pagan celebration of the Winter Solstice. But are we to pretend that Christmas is nothing but a shopping orgy or a sharp spike of consumption in our economy? Every year, mayors around the country go out of their way to have “holiday” parties and stammer around making apologies for accidentally using the word “Christmas” in a sentence. All in the name of political correctness, the minority is allowed to control what the majority is and isn’t allowed to say concerning a holiday which isn’t even widely celebrated for religious reasons anymore. Meanwhile, we trip over ourselves to make sure that Hanukkah (yes, a religious holiday) and Kwanzaa (a non-religious holiday) are brought to greater attention. Wishing someone “happy holidays” is more than just a useless platitude. Over time, the politically correct attitude which created it has destroyed any sense of celebration we have for our most joyous occasions and our ability to appreciate the joyous occasions of others. It makes us feel good to have wished a random person “happy holidays” because then people think we’re so appreciative of others. But are we really? If we truly strive to understand one another and appreciate that we are all unique individuals, we ought to not clump ourselves into one homogeneous group. Instead, we ought to care enough to pursue a full understanding of our own customs so that we may inform others who wish to know, not give up on our most cherished traditions and celebrations in the name of some wholly false idea of tolerance.

So please, just wish someone a “Merry Christmas” this year. It may just bring a little cheer to their day.

Daily Nexus conservative columnist Jeffrey Robin worries the next item on the politically correct agenda will be to question the existence of Santa Claus.

In Response, Left Said:

As illustrated in today’s “Left Said” article, political correctness is a false flag constructed by the right to attack tolerance and multiculturalism.

Wishing someone “happy holidays” is not an assault on Christmas, but an inclusive gesture which respects the secular and non-Christian aspects of this country, and one that can be said by Christians alike, as tolerance is a religiously ambiguous ideal.

Absurd? No.

Is the minority controlling what the majority is or isn’t allowed to say? No; there is no degree of control involved.

The holiday greeting you choose is a personal decision; “Happy Holidays” is imposed by no social structure or government entity.

I agree that we ought not to clump ourselves into any homogeneous group, which is precisely the reason that I, as an observer of Christmas, choose not to assume that all of my friends, associates and fellow Americans consider themselves as such.