Say It Loud and Proud: MERRY CHRISTMAS!
You may remember last year's holiday talk topic on the lips of every talking head, and maybe even at your office or family get-together: Target Department Stores banning the Salvation army bell-ringers from their property. Target said it was to be fair to everybody and that if they said yes to the Salvation army, they'd have to let every group who wanted to solicit funds to do the same.
Well, that was nothing compared to what's about to happen. Credit where credit is due: I happened to catch Bill O'Reilly talking about this Wednesday and I knew I had to blog you on it to make sure you know about it.
To cut to the chase, a number of major American stores have issued memos to the staff saying that there will no signs or references to the expression "Merry Christmas" in their stores, so as not to offend non-Christians (at the busiest sales time of the year). Which stores have made this glass-brained decision? Wal-Mart, Sears, Target, Costco, and a bunch of other national retailers.
The official word is that management is concerned that non-Christians will be "offended" by seeing a poster or advertising that says "Merry Christmas." This is simply feel-good, can't-we-all-get-along B.S.!
If you're a store owner, you can cover all your bases by putting up "Happy Hanukkah" (or however you choose to spell it), "Merry Kwaanza" AND "Happy Holidays" posters.
But the fact of the matter is that something like 85% of the people in this country say they are Christian people. We have no state religion, but Christmas is a federal holiday. And the only people who have problems with that are the ones you'll find at ACLU meetings.
If you don't understand that Christmas is religion-oriented and that most people, including Jews and Muslims, don't really care if someone says "Merry Christmas," I can't help you. Their reaction is probably the same as that of Christians who might see a sign in a store celebrating an important Jewish, Muslim, or whatever holiday---indifference without animosity.
Shoud you boycott any of the stores who have said there won't be any "Christmas" in their stores. You might find that tough to do this year. For the record, I always go out of my way to avoid Target because of their moron decision and stupid reasoning to boot out the Salvation Army. If it's possible, though, an informal boycott coupled with letters, emails, and phone calls to local and national management really might work, because this is make it or break it time for many of these stores at the cash register between now and the first of the year.
It's not about not offending people. It's about a traditional greeting that 8 out every 10 people in this country will express that the other 2 won't care about or find offensive. To store managers and employees: get ready to feel uncomfortable when shoppers express their anger and disgust this year. Since no one will feel sorry for you, let me be the first to wish you and everyone checking out today's George Blog, a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Listen Here for the audio version of today's George Blog
You may remember last year's holiday talk topic on the lips of every talking head, and maybe even at your office or family get-together: Target Department Stores banning the Salvation army bell-ringers from their property. Target said it was to be fair to everybody and that if they said yes to the Salvation army, they'd have to let every group who wanted to solicit funds to do the same.
Well, that was nothing compared to what's about to happen. Credit where credit is due: I happened to catch Bill O'Reilly talking about this Wednesday and I knew I had to blog you on it to make sure you know about it.
To cut to the chase, a number of major American stores have issued memos to the staff saying that there will no signs or references to the expression "Merry Christmas" in their stores, so as not to offend non-Christians (at the busiest sales time of the year). Which stores have made this glass-brained decision? Wal-Mart, Sears, Target, Costco, and a bunch of other national retailers.
The official word is that management is concerned that non-Christians will be "offended" by seeing a poster or advertising that says "Merry Christmas." This is simply feel-good, can't-we-all-get-along B.S.!
If you're a store owner, you can cover all your bases by putting up "Happy Hanukkah" (or however you choose to spell it), "Merry Kwaanza" AND "Happy Holidays" posters.
But the fact of the matter is that something like 85% of the people in this country say they are Christian people. We have no state religion, but Christmas is a federal holiday. And the only people who have problems with that are the ones you'll find at ACLU meetings.
If you don't understand that Christmas is religion-oriented and that most people, including Jews and Muslims, don't really care if someone says "Merry Christmas," I can't help you. Their reaction is probably the same as that of Christians who might see a sign in a store celebrating an important Jewish, Muslim, or whatever holiday---indifference without animosity.
Shoud you boycott any of the stores who have said there won't be any "Christmas" in their stores. You might find that tough to do this year. For the record, I always go out of my way to avoid Target because of their moron decision and stupid reasoning to boot out the Salvation Army. If it's possible, though, an informal boycott coupled with letters, emails, and phone calls to local and national management really might work, because this is make it or break it time for many of these stores at the cash register between now and the first of the year.
It's not about not offending people. It's about a traditional greeting that 8 out every 10 people in this country will express that the other 2 won't care about or find offensive. To store managers and employees: get ready to feel uncomfortable when shoppers express their anger and disgust this year. Since no one will feel sorry for you, let me be the first to wish you and everyone checking out today's George Blog, a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!
Listen Here for the audio version of today's George Blog
posted by George Woods | 4:00 AM
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