Martin Jessen’s Dec. 30 letter, “Don’t be politically correct during the holidays,” is his latest attempt to tell the rest of us how to conduct our personal lives. He wants us to greet our acquaintances, depending on their presumed religion, with “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Hanukkah” rather than “Happy Holidays.” He feels that society would be better off with more public acknowledgement of religion and advises everyone else to act accordingly.
He may not understand that when religion becomes a public activity, human nature inevitably makes the majority religion the de facto official religion.
He advises us to wish Happy Hanukkah to our Jewish friends, but that holiday is not nearly as important to Jews as Christmas is to Christians, and should not be viewed as a Christmas substitute. Then there’s the question of what to wish our friends who are Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, or religiously uncommitted, each a growing minority in this country.
Most important is that in a free society, no one should tell others how to conduct their religious lives, especially via the public media. True freedom of religion remains strongest when no religion attempts to act as a missionary.
Larry Golbe
Metuchen