Merry... Holidays o0

[comana]

Whatever happened to the battlecry against the commercialization of Christmas?

What do trees, lights, gifts, cards, etc. have to do with the celebration of Jesus' birth?

I can't take a single Christian seriously who claims they are putting Christ back into Christmas by insisting that the December greeting be "Merry Christmas", decorated trees are "Christmas trees" and that they are maxing out their credit cards for "Christmas gifts". All this to celebrate the birth of Jesus? I'm sure he'd be proud.

 

[Thirst_For_Knowledge]

Whatever happened to the battlecry against the commercialization of Christmas?

What do trees, lights, gifts, cards, etc. have to do with the celebration of Jesus' birth?

I can't take a single Christian seriously who claims they are putting Christ back into Christmas by insisting that the December greeting be "Merry Christmas", decorated trees are "Christmas trees" and that they are maxing out their credit cards for "Christmas gifts". All this to celebrate the birth of Jesus? I'm sure he'd be proud.

I'm really starting to believe that persecution complex isn't that far off.

 

[crazyfingers]

http://www.saychristmas.org/attacks/default.aspx

More proof.

Your claim was that the ACLU was trying to make poeple say happy holidays and not Merry christmas. Your link shows nothing of the sort.

Please learn the difference between separation between church and state and the oppression of christians. It might help.

 

[OhhJim]

"Don't get me wrong, I think it's important for the survival of America to have Merry Christmas posted all over Wal Mart. After all, what would Christ think if He returned and Wal Mart wasn't exploiting His name and birth to increase profits?"

 

[OhhJim]

Whatever happened to the battlecry against the commercialization of Christmas?

What do trees, lights, gifts, cards, etc. have to do with the celebration of Jesus' birth?

I can't take a single Christian seriously who claims they are putting Christ back into Christmas by insisting that the December greeting be "Merry Christmas", decorated trees are "Christmas trees" and that they are maxing out their credit cards for "Christmas gifts". All this to celebrate the birth of Jesus? I'm sure he'd be proud.

Oh, it's worse than that. On another Christian board, a conservative Christian was upset because there was a "Madonna and Child" stamp. It was "too Catholic", you see. Yes, she was unhappy that Baby Jesus was on a stamp, because it wasn't a Baptist portrayal!!!

!!!

 

[BeautyForAshes]

Why would you do that? Why do you want to exclude everyone who has other religious days during that month? Holiday includes everyone, including Christians, but simply recognizing Christmas excludes everyone but Christians. I just don't understand why you'd want to stores to exclude everyone but people like you, instead of including everyone, including people like you.

We not asking for EVERYTHING to be labeled Christmas, but get real. A Christmas tree is a Christmas tree. In the past, stores did both - Christmas displays and Happy Holiday displays - but that's no longer the case. In the effort to neutralize the entire holiday, everything is now called "holiday ____" even when it CLEARLY something only used/associated with the Christian aspect of the season (or with another faith). For example, I know of one national chain store that only carries Happy Holiday cards (faith-neutral). Nothing wrong with that, but shoot, what's wrong with including a few faith-specific cards - they did in the past? What's the problem with having christian, jewish, kwanza, and happy holiday cards all together?

That is what the intiative is all about. Nothing or no one is excluded - in fact, everyone is included because you now will have Merry Christmas/Happy Hannakuh/Kwanzaa/Happy Holidays.... people have options.

I mean, let's get serious, items like "Holiday Menorah" or "Holiday Manger" are pretty silly. People KNOW what those items are associated with (faith-wise). Call it what it is, geesh.

I know in the long run, it really doesn't have a thing to do with people being offended, but with retailers trying to neutralize everything in hopes of increasing profits - it just has backfired on them.

 

[EarthWindFire]

The War on Christmas is just another manufactured story of the right-wing media and people are eating it up. Isn't it amazing that all these stories and threads seem to coincide with the drum beat on Fox News? Last year this didn't happen, the year before that it didn't happen.

I guess this is how you keep people watching, manufacture controversy. They've been saying happy holidays for over a decade, now it's a problem?

 

[BeautyForAshes]

I don't know why, but this discussion reminds me of the whole french fries vs "freedom fries" debate.

 

[LittlePinky82]

Don't forget a decade or two ago the fundies started the whole "Happy Holiday's" ordeal and now they're trying to take it away. Why did they start it? Because they thought Christmas was becoming too commercilized. So now they're flipflopping. So in another decade or two watch them flip back. It's the perfect money sceme!!! You can't lose either way.

This is, in fact, the most ridiculous manifestation of the so-called culture wars EVER..."Happy Holidays" vs. "Merry Christmas"...God, who cares?

Happy Holidays is simply more efficient for commercial enterprises, since there are several different holidays around the same time of the year...not to mention that a non-trivial amount of their customers are not christian, and either don't celebrate christmas, or do so only in a secular way. How is this even controversial?

Some christians seemingly endless sense of entitlement is pretty amusing though...

 

[justcallmejamie]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!


just though id throw it in there

 

[Ginny]

Jamie- this IS a Christian website, please don't offend anyone....

The way things are going around here, you will probably get reported for being Christ-like!

 

[justcallmejamie]

lol its all good

 

[LittlePinky82]

Oh yes. And now the guy who did that whole thing is anti-war.

I don't know why, but this discussion reminds me of the whole french fries vs "freedom fries" debate.

 

[loriersea]

I've posted pleanty of links showing that they're not trying to stop people from saying it... they're trying to keep it out of being displayed, even from private buisiness owners.

But who is this mythical "they" you keep referring to? I hope you understand that the ACLU--or any other legal organization--has never and will never asked a store to use "Happy Holidays" as opposed to "Merry Christmas." Stores are private organizations, and as such what they choose to refer to the holidays as has no bearing on church-state issues.

There is no "they" that is pushing companies to use "Happy Holidays." These are decisions being made by company management, which is concerned solely with profit. That is it. They do not care about being PC, or about the religious nature of the holidays, or anything of that sort: they are solely concerned with profit. If they change from "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays," you can be 100% certain that it was only because they became convinced that doing so would increase their profits. If they decide to go back to "Merry Christmas," you can be 100% certain that it is only because they will become convinced that it will increase their profits. The management of Wal-Mart and Target and any other store out there is NOT concerned with not offending people, unless they believe it will affect their sales. If they offend people and it increases sales, then they will offend people. Their ONLY concern, as a corporation, is profit. If they believed that putting a nine-foot blow-up figure of Jesus in front of their store would increase their profits, they would do it. And, if they believed that having huge signs saying "Blessed Yule" would increase profits, they'd do that.

Again, I'm not sure why suddenly people who otherwise have no problem with Wal-Mart dictating employee behavior (such as limiting employee bathroom breaks and having standard greetings during non-holiday times) think that a business has no right telling its employees how to greet people. Would it be appropriate, on Buddha's birthday, for a clerk to wish everyone who came in the store "Happy Buddha's Birthday" if the store manager asked them not to? Does the store manager have a right to ask them not to? The issue is if store managers have the right to set guidelines for employee behavior that puts limits on what the employee may say to customers. If you think a store doesn't have the right to tell employees to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," does that mean that you think that a Christian bookstore doesn't have the right to tell an employee to say "Merry Christmas" instead of "Blessed Yule" or "Happy Kwaanza"? Should that Christian bookstore employee be able to say whatever he or she wants, regardless of what her employer asks?

So please stop thinking that The Powers That Be are out there telling stores they must not say "Merry Christmas." That is simply not happening. There is no "they" other than the store management, and their concern is for one thing: profit.

 

[Thirst_For_Knowledge]

But who is this mythical "they" you keep referring to? I hope you understand that the ACLU--or any other legal organization--has never and will never asked a store to use "Happy Holidays" as opposed to "Merry Christmas." Stores are private organizations, and as such what they choose to refer to the holidays as has no bearing on church-state issues.

There is no "they" that is pushing companies to use "Happy Holidays." These are decisions being made by company management, which is concerned solely with profit. That is it. They do not care about being PC, or about the religious nature of the holidays, or anything of that sort: they are solely concerned with profit. If they change from "Merry Christmas" to "Happy Holidays," you can be 100% certain that it was only because they became convinced that doing so would increase their profits. If they decide to go back to "Merry Christmas," you can be 100% certain that it is only because they will become convinced that it will increase their profits. The management of Wal-Mart and Target and any other store out there is NOT concerned with not offending people, unless they believe it will affect their sales. If they offend people and it increases sales, then they will offend people. Their ONLY concern, as a corporation, is profit.

So please stop thinking that The Powers That Be are out there telling stores they must not say "Merry Christmas." That is simply not happening. There is no "they" other than the store management, and their concern is for one thing: profit.

This is the third post of yours today that I wished I could rep you for....

Anywho, which brings me to another question. If a store decides to not say Merry Christmas, why not just take your money elsewhere? Why must the religious right insist on trying to CONTROL everyone and everything? Walmart says Happy Holidays? Take your buisiness elsewhere, or get over it and shop there. Why is your first thought to try and MAKE them say Merry Christmas? Sheesh...

 

[applepowerpc]

Happy Christ's Birthday everybody!

 

[EarthWindFire]

Anywho, which brings me to another question. If a store decides to not say Merry Christmas, why not just take your money elsewhere? Why must the religious right insist on trying to CONTROL everyone and everything? Walmart says Happy Holidays? Take your buisiness elsewhere, or get over it and shop there. Why is your first thought to try and MAKE them say Merry Christmas? Sheesh...

Ah the questions that have the traditional conservatives and social conservatives running into each other. I think it's little cultural battles like these that will cause the implosion of the Republican Party to continue as people leave the party for a less religious party like the Libertarians.

 

[Thirst_For_Knowledge]

Happy rebirth of the Sol Invictus everybody!

 

[loriersea]

Lol, why is it MY job to acknowledge someone elses holiday for them? By your logic, I should be greatly offended when a Jewish person doesn't wish ME a Merry Christmas. Only a fool would think its actually says anything about their character and what kind of human being they really are.

No, by my logic, you'd probably be pleased if someone wished you "Merry Christmas," even if they didn't celebrate Christmas. Why not do the same for them, and acknowledge their holiday even if you don't celebrate it?

You do acknowledge other people's birthdays, anniversaries, promotions, child's births, etc., right? I certainly hope you don't refuse to acknowledge any joyful event that doesn't happen to personally involve you. So why not acknowledge other people's holidays, too? It just seems like basic goodness and decency, to me, but that seems to be too much to ask of people (especially Christians) these days.

 

[applepowerpc]

as people leave the party for a less religious party like the Libertarians.

Come on and join us Libertarians, I'll be waiting. Just don't expect to get away from Christians, if that's what you're expecting.

Happy Christ's Birthday.