The folks at the American Family Association are upset. They want everyone to have a Merry Christmas whether they want to or not! Here's their latest release:
Gap, which owns Old Navy, Banana Republic, Forth & Towne and Piperlime, has become the latest politically correct retailer, intentionally censoring the use of "Christmas" in their in-store, online and printed advertising.
Instead of referring to the season as Christmas, Gap instead uses the word "holiday." As hard as we tried, AFA could not find a single instance in which Gap-owned stores use the term "Christmas." Not a single time!
When one Old Navy store manager was asked by AFA if the word Christmas was in his store, he answered, "We have a lot of Christmas gifts in our stores, but the word Christmas is not used here. Everything is 'holiday.'"
Gap wants you to do your Christmas shopping with them, but they don't want to mention the Reason for the season. Gap doesn't want to offend non-Christians by using Christmas. The fact that their censoring the use of Christmas might offend Christians seems to be of no importance.
I've given the "Merry Christmas" vs. "Happy Hollidays" a lot of deep thought and reached this
conclusion:
Who gives a crap.
Really, why does any organization waste valuable time and money worrying about how you are greeted at a retail establishment? Is anyone really shallow enough to believe that a "Merry Christmas" greeting will instill the Christmas Spirit in anyone?
As Apostle Dale eloquently preached at our church this past Sunday, the spirit of Christmas is all about understanding why Christ was born on earth and why he wilfully gave his life for our salvation. That spirit is not something that can be generated externally--it must come from within our own hearts from an understanding of how Jesus loves us.
If we embrace that, we don't need someone to wish us "Merry Christmas."
If we don't understand what Christmas is truly about, it doesn't really matter what anyone says, does it?
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I couldn't agree more.
ReplyDeleteAnd, seriously, "holiday" has a religious inference, too.
It seems to me the issue is largely one of "spiritual" imperialism, rather than any substantive gain that could allegedly be made by mouthing the words, "Merry Christmas." Of course, those who would impose their view of "bumper sticker theology" on others care more for show than for substance, but such an attempt at imposition gives them a reason for being, much as does their obsessive condemnation of same-sex love and relationships. This is not about "spirituality!" It's about "imperialism!" And, it's really about the hate that seems to reside in many of their hearts!
ReplyDeleteI still miss it, but it's not a big issue for me either. After all, the real Christmas story has very little to do with consumerism.
ReplyDeleteexactly, who gives a crap. As if Christmas had anything to do with merchandise and gifts and all the gunk that has sprung up around it.
ReplyDeleteSince the majority if the people who celebrate Christmas in the US are not Evangelical Christians, isn't shopping and food and getting together the ACTUAL reason for the season. It is dependent upon churches to provide a living example of an alternative, not get all red-faced and stomp around and shaking their fingers at non-Christian business establishments.