A doctor got bombarded with numerous bashing from netizens this week after wishing his clients and social media followers “Merry Christmas.”
Now, the doctor had to address the issue, despite the seemingly innocent greeting.
The doctor had to learn the hard way that the term he used is apparently incorrect when greeting someone during the year’s jolliest time.
The incident happened when Dr. Vincent Candrawinata from Sydney, Australia, uploaded a video on his Facebook page.
The video intends to show his gratitude to his customers for supporting the products offered by his company, Renovatio Bioscience, despite the coronavirus pandemic. It is also his way to spread joy to the public during this challenging year.
He started his message by acknowledging all the hardships faced by Australia during the year, including the ravenous bushfires and the ongoing pandemic caused by COVID-19.
He also reminded his viewers to continue giving their support back to their communities, then went on to wish all his views “Merry Christmas.”
However, some of his followers did not find his greeting amusing.
He was even flooded with never-ending bashing from netizens who said that they were offended by the phrase.
One of the comments that he got stated that over 28 religions celebrate an important occasion in December. Another person said that it would be better to say Happy Holidays to include the others who are not part of the Christian religion.
There are also others who said that since they are not Christians, they were excluded from the greeting. They find it offensive and discriminatory.
Ironically, the doctor also found himself getting racial abuse as well. Dr. Candrawinata was born in Indonesia and migrated to Australia in 2008. Because of his background, some people claimed that she should start conforming or learning more about Australia’s culture.
But other people were quick to defend him from the bashers.
Some reminded the doctor to ignore all the negative comments thrown his way. Others reminded the bashers that saying “Merry Christmas” should not be an issue since the world is celebrating the event.
Another person pointed out that what the doctor did was called “cultural appreciation,” which means that if someone wishes you a “Merry Christmas,” they are extending an invitation to other people to see a part of their culture that they want to share with the others. It is not meant to discredit the belief system of others.
To address the issue, the blogger/doctor told Daily Mail Australia that he never imagined his greeting would be problematic for other people. He explained that for him, Christmas is no longer a religious celebration or a religious holiday. He believes that it has more meaning to it.
He also opted to recreate the video. But since he learned his lessons, he changed the ending with a “Happy Holidays” statement.
Hopefully, the changes that the doctor made in his previous post would be enough for all people who took offense to his previous greeting and start celebrating the holidays in a more positive light.
