Posted on 11/22/2005 3:18:10 PM PST by churchillbuff
If you're expecting a hearty "Merry Christmas" as you're doing your shopping; you might be disappointed.
Usual holiday ads say things like Christmas, but you might want get used to hearing and seeing the term holiday. Because some stores are cutting Christmas out and putting a generic phrase in.
It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but don't expect to hear someone say it.
"I love Christmas, so I don't mind," says Rebecca Reyes.
Wal-mart is one of many stores asking its employees to replace Christmas with "Happy Holidays". The company says its trying not to offend anyone, by catering to one kind of celebration. However, some say it makes the season generic.
"I really don't care what people say to me. Merry Christmas, Merry Xmas, it's all the same," says Lorenzo Maxwell.
Other people want to boycott stores like Macy's and Bloomingdales where they also say the same, cutting out Christmas and Hanukkah from sayings and banners.
"I think Happy Hanukkah is appropriate, if your gonna say Merry Christmas say Happy Hanukkah as well," says Diane Sandy.
"That its so generic, not gonna offend anyone by saying Happy Holidays," says El Pasoan Eric Morales.
Rabbi Stephen Leon says he personally isn't offended by Merry Christmas, but believes corporations are just trying to please everyone, "one thing I've learned in life is you can't please everyone."
Some think the generic phrase is taking it too far and want to keep the season traditional and simple.
"I'm still gonna say it, that's my basis, don't think we should sweep it under the rug," Sandy says.
"Trying to ban everything, so I think they just leave as is," says Reyes.
The Catholic League for Religous and Civil rights had wanted a boycott against Wal-mart saying the store discriminated against Christmas. But called it off after the store apologized.
"Have a Tip Top Tet!"
LOL LOL LOL that's the BEST! Thanks!
Those who can't give proper credit for the "holiday" shouldn't be allowed to take it!
It's Christ's birthday. If people can't accept that, they should give the whole thing a big miss.
Merry CHRISTmas
Let's get real. Jews make up 2% of US population. As a culture we pay zero attention to other Jewish holidays.
It is Christmas.
I used to say Happy Holidays so as not to offend any Jewish friends - but this political correctness is stupid.
It is Christmas. Christmas is the name of the Christmas celebration time. If you feel like saying Happy Holidays - go for it. But stores forcing employees to use politically correct speach is bull. Stores changing banners to remove reference to the correct name of the holiday is bull. If you want to have a Hannukah Parade - go for it. But don't steal the Christmas parade just because it is Christian. No other group in our society is forced/coerced to give up their traditions.
We live in a world with "Black History Month". With "Gay Pride" parades. The one thing it seems we can't have is a "Christmas Parade". That is wrong headed.
I buy Christmas presents from stores that aren't afraid to recognize that it is Christmas.
On the Fourth of July should we all say "Happy Freedom Day"? After all - it is so close to Bastille day that really the two holidays should be morphed into one.
Except it is Christmas.
No otehr group in this society is coreced into dropping their traditions.
I beleive the legal position was firmly established in "Miracle on 34th St."
OMG, Bed Bath and Beyond?
I need to scratch some things off my Christmas list!
Thanks so much for taking the time to post that, Palladin.
OMG......revising shopping habits right now!
There. That's better.
Yea, but ya got my point. In 1970 we (that is, a lot of my fellow Christians) bitched about too much mixing of the birth of the Savior with shopping. We're just a tough crowd, that's all.
I tell my Jewish friends "Happy Hanukkah" the same way I'd tell them "Happy Birthday." But I tell strangers "Merry Christmas."
I couldn't agree more. I do indeed hope that other Christians will have a merry Christmas; I do indeed hope that Jews will have a happy Hanukkah, and I do indeed hope that Muslims had a happy Eid ul-Fitr. It does not however bother me that Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (NYSE: WMT) does not know which of these three I am.
As an aside, it is entertaining that both Christmas and Hannukah have been blown far out of proportion, in a sense. As other posters have pointed out, the "Christmas season" is really Advent, because Christmas Day actually begins the holiday rather than ending it. Furthermore, until as late as the mid-nineteenth century it was suppressed and even banned in parts of America, because of the well-founded suspicion that it was just employed as an excuse to buy things and throw parties. Hannukah on the other hand is apparently the Cinco de Mayo of the Jewish calendar - a minor commemoration of a military victory that somehow got blown up in recent times to a much bigger deal, because of intense pressure to have some sort of holiday at that time of year. Most importantly, while both attract the most popular attention, neither Christmas nor Hannukah are for their respective faiths the most important religious festivals of the year.
The latest renaming try is underway here in California by a major supermarket chain referring to Thanksgiving as Harvest Festival. I'm sure this term will grow in usage as the word "Thanksgiving" implies a Someone as a recepient of the giving of thanks. We can't have that.
Ok. Tell me how what groups want to buy a Holiday Tree and I will welcome them.
Oh, I'm sure that it's because it conjures up images of early settlers killing indians.
Don't worry, folks will just say Thanksgiving is just a name and they will, "Remember the day when it was all about giving thanks, and not the commercialization of the holiday itself".
'Scuse me while I go barf now.
It's not that they want to welcome other people, they are convinced that Christians won't get upset by them getting rid of any mention of Christmas, so they can be as politically correct as they want.
Or can you think of another reason why this article is written in such a way?
Oops!
LOL! Truth is stranger than fiction!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.