Merry Christmas to All Western Christians Celebrating

May “merry Christmas” never be our shibboleth. A Shibboleth has come to mean an empty slogan in the growingly secular English speaking world. It is when someone says something as a sound bite. It has no weight to it nor substance nor meaning. It is used for shorthand to denote what tribe one is representing and does all the leg work that a normal critical thinking mind should have been responsible for. But, the fuller meaning is even worse. It traces the evil from thought to word to deed. And indeed the deed is dastardly.

I'm talking about the so-called war on Christmas whose jihadis are comfortable western christians calling upon the magic words "merry Christmas" to combat the ever dreaded "happy holidays." Shibboleth, like many idioms, is rooted in the holy scriptures. What do they say?

“They said to him, “Then say Shibboleth,” and he said, “Sibboleth,” for he could not pronounce it right; then they seized him and slew him at the fords of the Jordan.” (Judges 12:6 RSV)‬

Merry Christmas.