As heated religious debates swirl around our communities and our opinion pages, we’re entering the prime season for debating another religion-tinged issue: What do you say at this time of year … Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Season’s Greetings? Some people get really offended if you say the wrong thing.
It never used to be so hard, but our society is an increasingly diverse collection of people of all faiths and no faith, all voicing their views about how it should be.
Diversity has become such a buzzword in our society in recent years that we’ve been conditioned to believe that the more diverse the population, the better off and happier we’ll be. But, as illustrated by recent controversies around prayers at Sturgeon Heights School and demands for secular education in Morinville, the truth is that accommodating diversity — particularly when it involves religion — is hard, messy work. Life was a lot easier when we were all believers. (Or more accurately: when non-believers were so few in number that it was easy to presume they didn’t exist.)
The make-up of Canadian society has changed drastically in the last 40 years. The percentage of the population that identify themselves as non-believers in Canada has grown from four per cent in 1971 to about 20 per cent in recent years.
Statistics Canada last did community breakdowns of religious affiliation in 2001, when St. Albert’s population was just under 53,000. At that time, 78 per cent of the population, or 41,000 people, identified themselves as Christian, with Catholics and Protestants each landing more than 19,000 votes. The next highest group, with about 10,000 people or 20 per cent of the population, were those with no religious affiliation (agnostic, atheist, humanist, no religion and other responses such as Darwinism.)
It’s anyone’s guess how those numbers have changed in the last decade, but one thing is for certain: there’s a large contingent of non-believers out there and they’re becoming less and less shy about voicing their opinions. Those in the majority who wish that this noise-making minority would just go away are unlikely to get that wish.
So here’s the rub: people have to accept that there are all sorts of people around us with all sorts of beliefs. And they’ve likely thought just as long and hard as we have about what they believe and what they don’t, so it’s pointless and disrespectful to try and change their views. Somehow we all have to find a way to express ourselves and pursue our respective religious activities without imposing our beliefs on others.
A good starting point is for us all to stop getting offended by every little turn of phrase that doesn’t mesh with our own views. This time of year, with its potential for flare-ups over certain two-word phrases, is a perfect opportunity to practice this new approach.
For example, if someone wishes you a Merry Christmas, take it in the spirit in which it’s delivered, even if you’re a Season’s Greetings guy. If the well-wisher is being sincere with language that is meaningful to her, it’s silly and rude to be offended. By the same token, if a Happy Holidays guy is sincere in his wishes, you shouldn’t be offended even if you’re a staunch Merry Christmas person.
Of course, applying this approach to bigger picture religious disagreements is much more difficult. That’s because these issues deal with rights and freedoms and not just fleeting annoyances. But we somehow have to get to a place where religious debates aren’t about proving we’re right, but about respecting everyone’s rights, and ultimately, finding a way to live together peacefully.
Cory Hare is the assistant editor of the Gazette.
