Not again

August 28, 2006

It’s not that I didn’t expect the “war on Christmas” lunacy to take the year off; I just didn’t expect it in August.

It appears the battle against what some call the politically correct title for Christmas has already begun. A pro-family group is highlighting ad on page 69 in the Sam’s Club in-house magazine, Source, that promotes “[tag]holiday[/tag]” cards, ribbons and gift bags, despite all the products obviously being designed for [tag]Christmas[/tag].

Randy Sharp, special projects director for the American Family Association, says it looks like Sam’s Club parent company Wal-Mart is adhering to the same “holiday” policy in the 2006 season as it followed in 2005. “Last year,” he says, “Wal-Mart refused to use the word Christmas in their advertising, and they were inundated by angry customers. And already this year they’re showing their true colors by again refusing to acknowledge Christmas.” […]

“Last week the first Christmas ad came out, and that was for Sam’s Club, owned by the Wal-Mart Stores Corporation,” the [tag]AFA[/tag] spokesman explains. “The ad is clearly meant to promote Christmas decorations and Christmas tree items,” he says, “but Sam’s Club refuses to refer to Christmas as Christmas. They simply use the generic term holiday.”

The horror. At this rate, people may not remember what Christmas even is. And it will all be Wal-Mart’s fault.

By the way, for those of you keeping score at home, this is the second time the religious right has gotten mad at [tag]Wal-Mart[/tag] in as many weeks. Hmm.

With all the stuff to be mad a WalMart about…

You’d think at least they’d say a few words about the commercialization of Christmas and that there are ads out befoer Labor Day>/i>!!!

  • Oh, our nutty friends at the AFA. Wal-mart was ‘inundated by angry customers’ last Christmas, but how many of them actually boycotted the store? Apparantly not enough to make a difference.

  • And the unholy alliance begins to tear itself to pieces 😉

    Now why should that bother me?

    Believe me, they (Chamber of Commerce Conservatives and Theocratic Reactionaries) are setting each other up to take the blame when the Republican’ts lose in 2006 and 2008.

    Of course, it will be both of theirs faults for allowing Dick Cheney to put Boy George II up for President in 2000.

  • Normally, I would not consider doing this—but, since it’s a good way to take a shot at the AFA, I think I’ll go buy some stuff at WalMart this weekend—just to reinforce my global boycott of the Theofascist regime….

  • They can either rail against commercial businesses for not doing exactly as they say and want.

    Or they could go crazy and actually help families. But how would anyone from their group get on TV if they were busy out helping people?

  • This is a little off the Wal-Mart topic, but on the Christmas theme. There was a letter to the editor in the local paper pounding the “war on Christmas” theme. They must have gotten the afa newsletter, or something.

  • …Sharp hopes significant numbers of pro-family consumers will contact Sam’s Club and its parent company Wal-Mart to tell them their customers want to keep “Christ” in Christmas…

    I guess the Holiday cards all said Merry Mas?

    I know my Ma is always happy around the holidays, because she gets to see all the grandbabies.

    Seriously, Christians NEED to be persecuted. It’s the only thing that keeps ’em happy. So I always try to oblige them, at least somewhat.

  • I hate Wal-Mart and do my best to stay away (except when I have to do something like buy a good vacuum cleaner). But if the AFA is after them, I think I’ll go along with Steve. After all, “the enemy of my enemy….”

  • “Seriously, Christians NEED to be persecuted. It’s the only thing that keeps ’em happy. So I always try to oblige them, at least somewhat.” – racerx

    When your religious founder believed that the world was filled with sin and death because Satan had taken control, as proved by the fact that Judea was occupied by the Romans, that the world (full of sin and death) was going to end before the death of the last of his disciples, and that God’s Kingdom was going to come to Earth with you in charge and your twelve disciples as the heads of the twelves tribes, I suppose a ‘good’ Christian is going to feel the need for a little persecution. Makes it easier for them to relate to Jesus.

    Seriously, Christianity is a religion with a lot of internal contradictions and it is not helped that most of the prognostications of its founder and his diarists (notably John) have been way off the mark.

    But you don’t have to bother prosecuting Christians. We do that for each other all the time 😉

  • Uh-oh, it looks like Sam’s Club is calling the AFA on its BS.

    A message to our Members inquiring about “Christmas” and “Holidays”

    We have received some comments about using the word “holiday” in place of Christmas in our August/September 06 Source Magazine.

    SAM’S CLUB serves 47 million members with different faiths across the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil and China. We attempt to take a very thoughtful approach to the words we choose in communicating with our members.

    In some cases, we use the word “holiday” or phrase “happy holidays” to include the season between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. In other cases, we name specific holidays such as Chanukah, Christmas, Kwanzaa or Easter. In our upcoming December/January 06 Source Magazine we plan to reference specific holidays such as Christmas and others, as we have in the past. For example, in our Spring 06 catalog, we referenced Easter on the inside cover, pages 4-6 and provided menu ideas for Easter as well as Passover entertaining.

    We value each and every member of SAM’S CLUB and want to make you aware of our efforts to be respectful and inclusive.

    In other words, we’ll do as we like and you can stick it.

  • Actually they’re a little late. I think biblical scholars pretty much agree that if JC lived he was born June 6 in ’03. December 25 came from Pagan tradition (my people!)

    Chrisitans should believe in evolution. They are seeing the gradual evolution of even business toward a little more inclusiveness and little less of the bigotry of having one religion run the show. They’re not wrong. Their dominance is being erased slowly.

  • If Christianity is so weak that it’s threatened by an in-house WalMart flyer, perhaps it deserves to disappear!

    As a Christian, my faith is not threatened by things like “holiday cards.” After all, a lot of other holidays are around the same time as Christmas and retailers sell to a lot of people who aren’t Christians. What I think is more destructive is the emphasis on materialism and having a picturebook-perfect Christmas celebration, which downplays the spiritual nature of the holiday. You never hear Christian people talking about this issue any more!

    I try to put “Christ back into Christmas” not by whining about secularism, but by focusing on the miracle of that night in the stable in Bethlehem. And I don’t begrudge anyone else their version of the holiday. To each their own.

  • I have to disagree with Steve and Tom on giving a little spending love to Wally World. They still stand primarily for Rethug values, and their profits still result in contributions primarily to Rethug candidates and causes.

    If you want to stick it to both the AFA-right and all of the remaining Wal-Mart ills, spend an extra handful at Costco, which tends to be a better corporate citizen and its profits tend to get channeled into Democratic candidates and causes.

  • And what about the Zoroastrians? Who will step forward and speak for the freaking Zoroastrians?? 😉

  • It’s not that I didn’t expect the “war on Christmas” lunacy to take the year off; — CB

    Um… Steve… I think it’s either:
    It’s not that I expected the “war on Christmas” lunacy to take the year off; or:
    It’s not that I didn’t expect … not to take the year off. (Less elegant, with all its negatives)

    Replace the whole phrase “the war on Chrismas lunacy” with “it” and see if I’m wrong. You did mean to say that you expected the lunacy to come back again this year, no?

    Yours, in Chomsky

  • I HAVE OFFICIALLY DECLARED A WAR ON CHRISTMAS

    Anyone caught uttering the word Christmas, or caught with Christmas propaganda such as religious cards, wrapping paper, or nativity scenes will be blackballed off my list.

    You are not to wear the following colors during December, green, red, or any other color that may indicate that you are supporting Christmas. Yes, stupid, Santa get to wear red.

    There is to be no praising of Jesus, this is a war, and by supporting Jesus, you are supporting the enemy.

    You are either with me or against me.

    –Santa ‘mother fucken’ Clause

    **If you really care, you will purchase my Chinese made SUV magnets. What greater sacrifice could Santa ask from his homeland troops then spending $.99 to show you aren’t about to cut and run like those pro-Christmas christians.

  • War on Christmas starts a little bit earlier every year. Used to be, people didn’t start hanging condoms from the mantlepiece, burning crĂȘches, stocking the stores with cheap plastic figurines of Cthulu and such till just after Thanksgiving, then it was till just after Halloween….

  • the local Costco already had its Xmas stuff out last week. if “they” can start pushing it in august, we can certainly start fighting it now!

  • “Actually they’re a little late. I think biblical scholars pretty much agree that if JC lived he was born June 6 in ’03. December 25 came from Pagan tradition (my people!) ” – Dale

    I’d heard that. The date of the feast of Christmas should of course be December 21st, or the Winter Soltisce, which is the Pagan holiday they are usurping (Yule). I’d love to know how anyone could pinpoint Jesus’ real birthday, but we certainly don’t celebrate anywhere near it.

  • I think it was November 6. There was a major convergence of about six planets that would have appeared as a very bright object in the west (as seen from the east) on that date, according to an ephemeris for that epoch that I was shown by astronomers.

    The ‘xmas’ tree, by the way, in pre-christian celtic times (I wish I could find the reference for this) was a large hemp plant (not a fir tree) that was brought in to assist in the solsticial celebrations. Oh, what a mockery we’ve made of the Yuletide tradition!

  • Gee – must be an election coming up. Time to stir up the crazy Christians again so they’ll vote Republican.

  • I just had a thought about this.

    Maybe calling this stuff “holdiay” is not a war on Christmas, but a devious way to get people who just want to celebrate to use Christian images and promote the Christian religion?

    As opposed to an effort to hide the true Christian nature of Christmas, it’s an effort to imbue all celebrations at the end of the year with Christian symbolism. That’ll get people in the right symbolic space for conversion or to be born again.

  • From the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster (http://www.venganza.org/): 12/19/05 – A note about the FSM Holiday season. People keep asking me what the FSM winter holiday is called – Ramendan, Pastamas, etc. Clever (not really), but no. Our winter holiday is named “Holiday”, and stretches most of December and January. Consider how much our religion has spread over the last couple years; how many schools and businesses refer not to the “Christmas season”, but to the pastafarian “Holiday season” instead? – Strong evidence of our rapid growth. A special thanks goes to Walmart, who rejected the Christian phrase “Merry Christmas” in favor of the Pastafarian greeting “Happy Holidays”. We appreciate your support.

  • “As opposed to an effort to hide the true Christian nature of Christmas, it’s an effort to imbue all celebrations at the end of the year with Christian symbolism. That’ll get people in the right symbolic space for conversion or to be born again.” – Nathan

    Only problem with that is with the exception of the Nativity Scene, all the symbolisms of Christmas are actually Pagan, and not Christian.

    Don’t tell that to Jo Ann Davis, Representative from Virginia and author of a bill to protect Christmas (Yule) Trees.

  • I support AFA and think they provide a voice for many that don’t want to use hate as a way of getting their point across. Hate is what I hear from liberals far more than from conservatives. It just seems like liberals disguise their hate for Christians or Family advocates with the mask of tolerance. Think about it, people who hate other people because they do not think the same way yet call themselves someone who is tolerant of all, makes no sense. I am a Christian conservative who truly cares about family, all people, and our society. I believe the when I boycott something, it is not hate, but standing up for what I believe is best for everyone in our country. I don’t want to become a country like Russia. Look up their social policies and you might see some similarities with where we could be headed if we are not careful. You might think that small issues are not worth fighting for, but remember change whether for the good or bad happens very slowly with one small issue after another. That is why people stand up for small issues at times.

  • But Sean, you’re saying that what’s best for this country is only what you believe in. That’s not tolerant at all. I don’t hate Christmas. I just love other holidays as well. Asking that you respect other people’s holidays in exactly the same way that we respect yours (i.e. not expecting that they be seen as the only holiday to be celebrated during this season.)

    Happy Holidays, Sean.

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