Some people are pretty ticked that there is less "Christmas" in Christmas - at least publicly.
It used to be that retailers would call the famous holiday plant for what it was – a “Christmas tree.”But current trends in Christmas advertising reveal that many stores are replacing references to “Christmas” with what they feel is a less offensive description of their products.
K-Mart, owned by Sears Holding Corporation, is the target of an e-mail alert issued by one Christian legal group for its renaming of “Christmas trees” to “holiday trees” or simply “trees” in its advertising.
According to the Fla.-based Liberty Counsel, when one of its supporters asked K-Mart for an explanation of the company’s disregard for Christmas, a Sears Holding Corporation representative said the company replaced the phrase in order not to draw complaints from non-Christians.
“The reason for our use of holiday tree is due to the [sic] Sears Holding is a very diverse company, we do not want to offend any of our associates, but also our valued customers,” responded Vincent V. of Sears. “We decided to call them holiday trees because even if Christians are the only religion that uses a Christmas tree, we still do not want complaints from other customers of different religions complaining about our use of Christmas.”
Liberty Counsel urged its supporters last week to contact the president and CEO of Sears to protest the use of “holiday trees” as offensive to shoppers who celebrate Christmas. The group has released names of retailers who censor Christmas in its annual “Naughty or Nice” list, which advises Christians where to shop for Christmas.
I used to be in the ticked off camp. Christmas is, after all, the big deal of the holiday season. More people - by far - celebrate it than celebrate any of the other holidays. It isn't even close.
But I don't think that anymore. It really doesn't matter what retailers do. It really doesn't matter what governments do. At Christmas it matters what churches do. At Christmas it matters what families do.
We waste too much time and too much energy focusing on things that aren't important to faith.
What does it matter if stores and governments acknowledge Christmas as the celebration of Christ's birth? It simply doesn't. These issues are a grand distraction to our faith. They are things that can make Christians feel good about their faith without requiring anything of them.
That is the opposite of the faith that Jesus instructed his followers to live. Jesus said his followers should expect hardship and trials and oppression. He didn't tell them to expect Sears to have a Christmas tree. He told them to sacrifice and serve and give and love. He didn't tell them to expect governments to celebrate is birth.
Perhaps de-Christianizing Christmas is the best thing for the Christian faith IF it forces Christians to focus more on their own spirituality and less on the nation's spirituality.
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Brilliant observations, Liz! If you haven't already, see if your local newspaper will print them - personally, I wouldn't shed any tears if 'Christmas' was completely removed from retail. It really has become out-of control. Yes, there's a 'war against Christmas' - however, God will use that to his Glory, especially if it causes the majority of us Christians to pull the celebration away from the marketplace.
My sister sent me th e-mail, but I'll see if the local paper will do anything with it.
Anyone who thinks there is a war on Christmas needs to go shopping on Nov 1st and hear all the Christmas music that's being played in every single store...and the radio stations with their 24 hours of Christmas that starts the day after HALLOWEEN.
Maybe everyone would feel better about it if we treated Christmas as the secular,political event it was from the start, which as I understand it was sometime in the mid-fourth century. It was an attempt to bring those rabble-rousing Christians together with all the other pagans. A little like the Republican party bringing corporate CEO's and Evangelicals under the same tent. Then everyone could celebrate or not as they pleased.
Some people like the Christ-story part of it, while others get caught up in decorating and gift giving.And some people try to celebrate Hannukah in the midst of it.
It should not be considered rude to try to acknowledge another's celebration even if it is not your own. I will be giving Christmas cookies, Hannukah cookies and Holiday cookies this year -- funny, they all look the same.
Finally a christian who gets the point makes his VOICE heard. By the way, for those who must believe their tree is a "Christmas" tree, many jewish families decorate an evergreen at this time of year just to join in your fun, and many non-religious and pagan families (of which the numbers are rising exponentially) have Yule trees--its original name. You don't hear THEM incensed at the usurpation. They're too busy enjoying their holidays. Food for thought.
Happy Whatever-Brings-YOU-Joy (because it's not about ME)!
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