Add SAG-AFTRA to the list of
organizations that can't say "Christmas." The Fall/Winter 2018 issue of SAG-AFTRA
Los Angeles (the newsletter of the actors union's Los Angeles
local) has a "Calendar of Events" on page 7 that states:
Monday, Dec. 24 -- Office closed for
holiday
Tuesday, Dec. 25 -- Office closed
for holiday
Monday, Dec. 31 -- Office closed for
New Year's Eve
Tuesday, Jan. 1 -- Office closed for
New Year's Day
Now, which holiday do you suppose the
office is closed for on Decembers 24 and 25. There's only one that
fall on those dates. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. So why not say
it?
It's not like the newsletter was
referring to the "holiday season." It was referring to two
specific days that contain only Christmas.
And it's not like the newsletter is
averse to mentioning other holidays. New Year's Day is specifically
named.
The only reasons for SAG-AFTRA Los
Angeles's newsletter to refrain from writing "Christmas" is
that union leaders themselves find the word offensive -- or they fear
that the word might offend non-Christian readers.
This is no oversight or trivial thing.
The newsletter's editors certainly thought it was important to avoid
writing "Christmas." They made a conscious decision to
mention one holiday by name -- "New Year's Day" -- while
simultaneously avoiding the name of another holiday -- "Christmas."
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