So, we had the discussion. The MC talk.
That’s Merry Christmas.
Each week our editorial board gets together to discuss possible topics, then we debate the appropriate stand we should take and how the argument should be made. After the outline is set, someone volunteers to write the editorial.
So D’Arce McMillan, Terry Fries, Bruce Dyck and myself, sometimes joined by Michael Raine, gather together in our Saskatoon office while Barb Glen joins in by phone from Lethbridge.
(I particularly enjoy this meeting because it occasionally allows me the opportunity to ramble, which strangely, is why the others sometimes don’t enjoy this meeting quite as much.)
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Last week, we got together to discuss our Christmas editorial, the one you see today on Page 10.
We discussed how it was a difficult year for many farmers because of the weather and prices this summer, but by and large, many farmers escaped the worst of what is considered an off year. So there was much to be thankful for, which formed the outline of our editorial.
But when it came to the end, we debated, albeit briefly, how we should sign off. Season’s Greetings? Happy Holidays? Merry Christmas?
Some readers’ eyes might roll at this, but it’s actually a reasonable debate. Our society has become much more multicultural in the last 30 years or so, and it’s important to address all our readers as Canadians.
But Merry Christmas does just that. It is not exclusive. It simply recognizes that a segment of our society, in this case a large segment, is celebrating an important spiritual festival. If we offered Happy Hanukkah to acknowledge our Jewish readers (Dec. 6-14 this year) or Happy Ramadan to wish our Muslim friends well in their holy month (which began in mid-June this year), it should be no problem. Most of us don’t even know when many of these celebrations take place, but Christmas tends to be ubiquitous. Everyone knows it’s coming.
Our debate was brief, and as you see in today’s editorial, the point was made.
So, although it’s been said many times in many ways — and by many people in more lyrical ways than me — Merry Christmas to you.
brian.macleod@producer.com
