Posted on 12/10/2005 11:23:24 AM PST by devane617
TAMPA - The debate over whether to use "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" greetings is stripped to the nitty-gritty on the corner of Columbus and Dale Mabry.
A gigantic banner posted by the megachurch Without Walls International asserts itself without qualm.
"To HELL with the word holiday," it reads. "Put CHRIST back into 'Christ'mas."
"We hope it gets everyone's attention, which it certainly has," said Randy White, founder of the nondenominational church. "We put it in big, red print."
The banner directs passers-by to www.withoutwalls.org, the church's Web site, where they can link to an Internet petition that protests retailers' exemption of the word "Christmas" in holiday merchandising.
But local religious leaders, even those who agree with the message, say they object to its wording. The conservative American Family Association, which tends the petition and takes credit for pressuring Sears and Lowe's into displaying the word "Christmas" prominently, is taken aback by the banner.
"I don't know about that particular language on a sign," said Tim Wildmon, president of the nonprofit. "Some people would interpret that as profanity."
The association thanked Without Walls for its message at the same time it tried to distance itself from the aggressive marketing of it.
"That's their own deal there," Wildmon said.
There are better ways to get the message out, said Rabbi Richard Birnholz, leader of Tampa's 960-family Congregation Schaarai Zedek.
"I think that banner is offensive," he said. "It's a veiled swipe at those of us who honestly and rightly want our society to be inclusive."
Birnholz doesn't object to Christmas. He doesn't object to Christians calling Christmas "Christmas." He strongly thinks that "we should call things what they are."
"Christmas is Christmas. It's not a generic holiday. It's a special holiday for Christians," he said. "Political correctness can sometimes go overboard."
Birnholz wants retailers to be inclusive, and that inclusiveness not be seen as an affront to Christianity. Saying "Happy Holidays" is a way to include all faiths, he said.
'Holiday' Debate Intensifies The moniker of wintertime festivities long has been the subject of debate nationwide. This year, the issue gained more attention when conservative Christian groups objected to President Bush's "holiday" cards, which spread "Happy Holidays" greetings instead of "Merry Christmas."
The big tree on the Capitol lawn made headlines when House Speaker Dennis Hastert insisted it officially be called a "Christmas tree."
The American Family Association has gathered 671,000 Web signatures nationwide from people who are offended by the trend toward "holiday" greetings, Wildmon said. The petition was posted two weeks ago. More than 1,500 signatures of support are from Tampa, he said.
The group is calling for boycotts of retailers that they say avoid using "Christmas" in their advertising. The group's Web site places Target at the top of its list and provides a link to sign up for a boycott.
The Rev. James Harnish, who leads the 2,000 members of Hyde Park United Methodist Church, said he appreciates Without Walls' intent. But he called the banner "bad taste."
"I think it alienates people rather than draws people in," he said.
Rather than focus on a fiery debate about language, Harnish urges his members to use their energy to spread the true meaning of Christmas.
"It's a debate I don't spend a lot of time worrying about," he said.
Banner Works For Them White says the language of the banner matches his radical church's straight-talking, no-baloney philosophies.
Without Walls started as a local congregation with five members in 1991 and has spawned 200 ministries with a weekly attendance of 23,900. This year's survey by Church Growth Today, a Missouri-based independent research firm, ranked it the country's fastest-growing and second-largest Protestant church in the nation.
White said 90 percent of Without Walls members, and some on its governing board, are recent Christian converts and have survived dangerous lifestyles.
"They are ex-gangbangers and ex-gangsters," he said. "They were prostitutes and drug dealers. To say the word 'hell' on our banner is nothing to them."
His church respects other holidays, White said. "We're not anti-any holiday," he said. But calling a Christmas tree a "holiday tree" or a "winter tree" doesn't cut it, he said.
"All we're asking is that we have the same respect and dignity, and that we're able to have our Christmas."
Might the word 'birthday' be offensive to women who had abortions?
"Might the word 'birthday' be offensive to women who had abortions?"
Yes, yes.
Let's change that to "Birth-Choice Day".
It doesn't really matter where the term came from. Today it simply means a day off of work. As I see it, that's the problem.
How true you are. My saying is I have lived to be 70 years old, a aborted child hasn't even lived 70 seconds.
He doesn't know about it. Maybe you can't say that. Maybe they, whoever they are will be offended. Maybe we should just watch what we say, because they might being listening.
Go Tampa!
'fruit-flavored'? No, no, highly offensive. How about 'gay-flavored'?
Hey merry Christmas to you.
Und frohe Weihnachten zu dir auch, mein Freund.
Jetzt zurück zu Arbeit erhalten!
You had better get to work yourself ;-)
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