I noticed this from the article I posted earlier today:
In Washington, the humanists' campaign comes as conservative Christian groups gear up their efforts to keep Christ in Christmas. In the past five years, groups such as the American Family Association and the Catholic League have criticized or threatened boycotts of retailers who use generic "holiday" greetings.This war has been going on for a number of years and I've never understood it. The whole idea over intimidating the sales clerk into saying "Merry Christmas" seems rather bizarre. Yeah, I get that the retailers are making tons of money on our holiday but aren't we the ones who are letting them do it?In mid-October, the American Family Association started selling buttons that say "It's OK to say Merry Christmas."
If you really want to stick it to the retailers over their handling of Christmas, why not just make your own Christmas gifts or better yet, donate money to your church instead? Yeah, I know, that would go over big with the kids :-) You could do what we do, avoid shopping altogether with gift cards (you could even buy them now when no one is mentioning the holidays). My whole family exchanges them because it's so much easier to give someone the gift of being able to get exactly what they want. And if they are just as bothered by the whole "Happy Holiday" thing as you, then you have the added bonus of giving them the gift of shopping after Christmas when "Happy Holiday" refers to New Year's Day :-) Now, isn't that so much better than getting ticked at the cashier for not obeying your button?
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Gosh--I also find myself agreeing with you, Michele! The quality or enjoyment of my celebration of my Savior's birth doesn't depend one bit on some sales clerk telling me "Merry Christmas" instead of "Happy Holidays". I really don't care, and I think a lot of folks need to lighten up. A non-religious friend of mine, who doesn't really celebrate Christmas, says that the way Christmas is celebrated in America has very little if anything to do with Christ or what he taught or stood for. I think he has a point. I also like what Michele says about a good way to "stick it to the retailers". On the other hand, if by retailers we're talking about actual stores on the street or in the mall, the internet has done a pretty doggone good job of "sticking it to" them already. Last December, about a week before Christmas, I was in our local mall, and you could have fired a cannon through it and not hit anyone! There was almost no one there! 15 years ago, in the same mall at the same time of year, it was elbow-to-elbow! Now, "Black Friday", the (very early) morning after Thanksgiving (the highlight of my wife's year), that's a different breed of cat, but that's a discussion for another day.____Another way a person can deal with the whole sales clerk "Happy Holidays" thing is do what my uncle does. He says that when a sales clerk tells him "Happy Holidays", he answers, very nicely, "Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you too."
Check out my lens on the War on Christmas.
http://www.squidoo.com/war_on_Christmas
It is real and there is an agenda behind it and the Christians
are not the ones starting this war...
Merry Christmas!
Even this Democrat has to agree with you on this one, Michelle. Organizing a boycott against stores (you could list some, huh?) that ban Christ in Christmas is something that bloggers can do.
You're right on this one, Michelle. No one should care whether secular and especially commercial enterprises "celebrate" Christmas. And families should focus on the spiritual meaning of Christmas and the connections it builds instead of the frenzy and pressure. Christmas belongs in homes and churches, where it can be kept precious and holy.
I agree, Michele.
Rather than demanding the world acknowledge Christ, let's proclaim Him and call on people to repent of sins and trust in Him. The cross is offense enough without us adding offense. Let's season our speech for the season and let the world know us by our good deeds and glorify God.
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