Protesters Demand That Wal-Mart Exploit Christmas

[Eric J in MN]

In the 1960s, Tom Lehrer wrote a song which criticized the use of Christmas by stores:

Hark the Herald Tribune sings,
Advertising wondrous things.
God rest ye merry, merchants,
May you make the yuletide pay.
Angels we have heard on high
Tell us to go out and buy!

But in Sacramento, California yesterday, about 50 people protested outside a Wal-Mart for not using the word "Christmas" in its advertising:

Saturday's protest was organized by religious leaders including Dick Otterstad of the Church of the Divide, located in Georgetown, east of downtown Sacramento. Donning a Santa Claus costume and surrounded by a handful of supporters, Otterstad greeted shoppers with a single message: Don't forget about the meaning of Christmas.

"It is insulting that Wal-Mart has chosen to ignore the reason for the season," Otterstad said. "Taking the word Christmas out of the holiday implies there's something sinful about it. ... This is a part of our culture."

Is protesting that Wal-Mart should advertise with the word "Christmas" the best way for Dick Otterstad to convey the "meaning of Christmas"? Perhaps if he held a sign saying "Blessed are the Peacemakers" that would have conveyed the meaning of Christmas.

With regard to Otterstad's idea that if a store doesn't use the word "Christmas" in its advertising, then it's implying Christmas is "sinful," that is ridiculous. Stores have no obligations to promote religious holidays. Wal-Mart isn't using "Hanukkah" in it's ads, either, as far as I know.

The AP article ends with a puzzling quote from a shopper leaving Wal-Mart:

Earlee Marshall, 32, of Sacramento, pushed a big load of purchases from the store, but said he supported the protesters.

"A lot of people have forgotten the significance of Christmas," Marshall said. "It used to be about family and friends. But now it's more about who can give the biggest gifts and who got the best toys."

Maybe he misunderstood the protest. The protesters weren't saying that Christmas shouldn't be exploited in advertising, but that it should be.

« Where is This Coming From? »

The AP article implies the protest was indirectly based on campaigns by the "The American Family Association" and the "Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights." Perhaps, but personally I associate this nonsense more with Bill O'Reilly of Fox News.

« Church and Store; Church and State »

An interesting history of Christmas controversies is in a New York Times article by Adam Cohen, "Commercialize Christmas, or Else."

Adam Cohen's historical information includes that Christmas songs in public schools were once more controversial than today:

This year's Christmas "defenders" are not just tolerating commercialization - they're insisting on it. They are also rewriting Christmas history on another key point: non-Christians' objection to having the holiday forced on them.

The campaign's leaders insist this is a new phenomenon...But as early as 1906, the Committee on Elementary Schools in New York City urged that Christmas hymns be banned from the classroom, after a boycott by more than 20,000 Jewish students. In 1946, the Rabbinical Assembly of America declared that calling on Jewish children to sing Christmas carols was "an infringement on their rights as Americans."

From www.speakspeak.org

[Freedom_from_Chains]

1. implying Christmas is "sinful," that is ridiculous.

Then again religion is ridiculous, so what do you expect?

[Eric J in MN]

3. I meant that the protesters' position that Wal-Mart was implying

Christmas is sinful by not using the word "Christmas" in its ads is ridiculous.

I was criticizing these Christian protesters.

[Democrats_win]

2. The 1906 thing reminds us that xtians are revising history.

They want us to think that xmas is an American tradition, but minding your own business and not forcing your beliefs on others is the American tradition.

[Eric J in MN]

4. Public schools should be secular.

Bill O'Reilly is trying to turn the word "secular" into something negative, but tax dollars should NOT be used to promote religion and religious holidays.

Let the kids learn Christmas songs at Sunday school.

[Eric J in MN]

5. By the way, a shopper at the start of the article objects to "xmas"

apparently not understanding that it's an abbreviation:

Greek letter chi, which looks like the English letter x.

From
http://www.cresourcei.org/symbols/xmasorigin.html

Even Webster’s dictionary acknowledges that the abbreviation Xmas was in common use by the middle of the sixteenth century.

So there is no grand scheme to dilute Christianity by promoting the use of Xmas instead of Christmas. It is not a modern invention to try to convert Christmas into a secular day, nor is it a device to promote the commercialism of the holiday season. Its origin is thoroughly rooted in the heritage of the Church. It is simply another way to say Christmas, drawing on a long history of symbolic abbreviations used in the church. In fact, as with other abbreviations used in common speech or writing (such as Mr. or etc.), the abbreviation "Xmas" should be pronounced "Christmas" just as if the word were written out in full, rather than saying "exmas." Understanding this use of Christian symbolism might help us modern day Xians focus on more important issues of the Faith during Advent, and bring a little more Peace to the Xmas Season.

[ClassWarrior]

6. Let's not forget ol' Linus from "A Charlie Brown Christmas"...

...who decries the commercialization of Christmas, then goes on to remind us of the true meaning of Christmas by reciting the Nativity Story from the Bible.

These Wal-Mart goons are psychopaths who use their religion as a partisan weapon.

NGU.