WASHINGTON — Ah, the Christmas season is about over, and soon I
shall be liberated from the alarm I experience every time some
benevolent authoritarians accosts me with the line, “Have a Happy
Holiday.” The term is used in all innocence by many, I am sure. Yet
there are the forces of political correctness out there, and their
meaning is clear: “Have a Happy Holiday Or Else.” These
are the moralists who somehow always manage simultaneously to
identify iniquity of one sort or another in conventional behavior
and stamp it out good and hard. Some years ago they discovered
cruelty and intolerance laden in the term “Merry Christmas,” and
now the term is gone or nearly gone.
It has been replaced with “Happy Holiday,” and anyone who stands
by the term “Merry Christmas” is immediately marked down as a
provocateur, probably a bigot and possibly a cigarette smoker. At
this time of year the use of the term “Merry Christmas” is viewed
by the politically correct as a rude and aggressive act. Oddly
enough, it just might be by now. The politically correct have an
inordinate influence over our language and manners. They have lured
enough politically innocent Americans to their view that “Merry
Christmas” is indeed a term of controversy and a consensus has
probably formed. “Merry Christmas” is at least bad manners.
What is surprising to me is that the politically correct manage
to convince themselves that they are tolerant and peace loving.
Actually they are bullies of the worst sort. They never tire of
shoving people around and always do it while claiming noble values.
They are driven by a free-floating moralizing that alights on
matters large and small —- usually small. This Christmas — if you
will pardon the word — we saw them render controversial the
Christmas tree, Santa Claus, and even Frosty the Snowman. Google
these terms, and you will see trees being taken down, Santa Claus
suits being banned, and at least one Frosty who suffered violence.
These are the accomplishments of the politically correct’s restless
moralizing.
They have been engaged in this petty mischief for years. They
brought down on us the nonsensical term “Ms.” Because it is
nonsensical even now, it is not in universal use, which means it is
a cause for social conflict. The politically correct, working
through their feminist agents, have made it dangerous for a man to
offer to hold a door for a woman, even when her arms are full of
packages. Merely offering a woman a seat on the subway can become a
casus belli.
The endless changes demanded by the politically correct in
language are also occasions for conflict. In my lifetime “Negro”
has been changed to “black,” and now one uses the term “African
American” or is recognized as racist or provocative. “Oriental” has
been changed to “Asian.” Young girls are women.
What is most perplexing about the petty moral reforms of the
politically correct is that there is no way to anticipate what they
will fall on next. Their values have often been recognized as
“secular” and “liberal.” Of late, however, they have shown a
surprising sensitivity to claims made by Muslims, claims that are
all very much based on fundamentalist religion and politics that
can only be characterized as reactionary — and, boy, can I hear
the grumbling from the politically correct about my applying that
term, “reactionary,” to Islam. Yet there is nothing “progressive”
about Islam, save perhaps its alienation from capitalism. Its
religion is famously unreformed. Had you told me a decade ago that
the claims of Islam would in 2006 strike a sympathetic note with
the politically correct, I would have taken a large bet against
you. Well, today you win.
So this anxious season is about over. But have you noticed this
past week that we have not heard as many greetings of “Happy New
Year” as we might have heard in the past? Why might that be? Well,
the bullies have settled on “Have a Happy Holiday” as the preferred
greeting, and they will tell you that not everyone celebrates New
Year at this time. The Chinese have their own new year as do the
Moslems and the Jews. So it is a good bet that in the years to come
“Happy New Year” will have gone the way of “Merry Christmas.” Yet
as 2006 expires, and 2007 stands in the threshold, allow me to wish
you all “Happy New Year.” It might be the last time I can do so
politely.
