Well, we managed to escape the end of the world then, perhaps the Mayans got their sums wrong and they actually meant December 21^stnext year, or the year after that. Whatever, there’ll always be some nutty group telling us that the end is nigh, so we just keep on carrying on and enjoy each day as it comes. Tomorrow is supposed to be the day that we enjoy the most though because tomorrow is Christmas Day just in case that fact had somehow eluded you!

Earlier this month I spent some time in New York, that most Christmassy of all cities, at least in the commercial sense. Whilst enjoying much that this wonderful city has to offer and doing my best to soak up the Christmas atmosphere I was once more puzzled, as I always am when visiting the USA in December, as to why it is that virtually all the festive advertisements and nearly everybody you bump into wish you “Happy Holidays” rather than a “Happy Christmas”. Strange this when Christmas, as even any half educated person can tell you, is actually a celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ and one of the most, if not the most, important dates in the Christian calendar.

The USA is still officially a Christian country, though the latest school shootings may make you question this, and I suspect that, other than political correctness, there can be no reason to not wish somebody a “Happy Christmas”. You see, it’s apparently not very nice to wish people a “Happy Christmas” just in case they are not Christians and may be offended by the greeting. What utter nonsense; this is just another example of  the West falling over itself to accommodate people from other cultures, particularly Islam. Does anybody honestly believe that a decent well-balanced (and there’s the rub) non-Christian would be offended by what is clearly meant as a joyous and friendly greeting? Some maybe, but only those extremists who despise everything about us, whatever we say or do.

Isn’t it about time that we stood up for our own culture, whilst respecting the right of everybody else to enjoy theirs, provided of course, that they are equally tolerant? In leaving that thought with you, I wish you truly, a very Happy Christmas!