Community | November 13, 2009 | 13 comments

Lock and Load: Tis the season for the 'War on Christmas'

source: http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2009/11/13/war_on_christmas

Image
SleepDirt
Another holiday season approaches, and along with the jingle jangle of sleigh bells come the inevitable grumblings of outrage at the imagined secular war on Christmas. The American Family Association today has taken up the cause on behalf of the baby Jesus, who would no doubt be horrified that other, lesser celebrations are trying to horn in on the sweater hawking that is reserved for His birthday alone.

In rallying for a conveniently timed two-month boycott of Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic, the conservative organization claims, "For years, Gap has refused to use the word Christmas in its television commercials, newspaper ads and in-store promotions." The association says the Gap's campaign is "political correctness at best and religious bigotry at worst ... The Gap is censoring the word Christmas, pure and simple."

Let's take a look at the company's incendiary campaign against religious freedom, shall we? Its current spot, which aired about 8,000 times during NBC's must-see lineup last night, starts out with a fresh-faced group of plaid-clad quasi Gleesters in cheer formation. As they toss bodies around, they chant, "Two! Four! Six! Eight! Tis the time to liberate! Go Christmas! Go Chanukah! Go Kwanzaa! Go solstice!"
So except for the fact that the ad mentioned Christmas, and mentioned it first, obviously we have a clear-cut case of religious bias here. Because, God help us, the Gap is telling America to "86 the rules, you do what just feels right … happy do whatever you wanukah!" And I don't know about you, but I always do whatever the Gap tells me I wanukah do.

Gap's other brands, Old Navy and Banana Republic, are indeed subtler, invoking "winter" and "holiday" in their online ads, but others aren't so Santaphobic. Target is touting its free shipping promotion as "Christmas delivered." Amazon has a swirling Christmas tree on its front page. Kmart has a Christmas countdown. And Wal-Mart has a clearly marked Christmas shop.

Dammit, with all this Christmas-themed retailing, where does a person have to go to work up a full head of righteous Christian indignation? Oh wait, don't tell me.

If you want to go for the scariest holiday possibility of all, consider the rumors flying around that the Obamas are ditching a Christmas tree this year in favor of a "holiday" one. Yes, surely the new administration has just been waiting since the inauguration to hold a godless bacchanal at Sodom on the Potomac. Except that the giant evergreen in question is clearly called a Christmas tree on the National Parks Service page, and the Washington Post has already reported on the first lady's plans for decorating what they like to call the "Christmas tree."

I am having a really hard time feeling oppressed here.

More...
  1. groups:
    Community
  2. tags:
  3.     
    |

13 comments // Lock and Load: Tis the season for the 'War on Christmas'

  • jimmydaperv
  • LarzNero
  • FlexSF
    • 0
      FlexSF  

    • "The association says the Gap's campaign is "political correctness at best and religious bigotry at worst ..."

      Are the god fearing lunatics going to pass a constitutional amendment to ban santa clause?

    • 2 years ago
  • artemis6
    • 0
      artemis6  

    • Yule . Pagans know how to throw a celebration . I think we need to celebrate all winter - or it is just too depressing 'till spring . What I tell my kid is santa is the spirit of generosity in all of us . Like the easter bunny is the regenerative spirit of spring in all of us . That way he is not at the mercy of something external , but empowered internally .

    • 2 years ago
  • DeliaTheArtist
    • 0
      DeliaTheArtist  

    • I'm the type of atheist who loves celebrations. I don't care what you call it or what god you're praising, let's fucking party! If there are any "Christians" out there that think they were the first one to celebrate in Winter they are nuts!

      Here's a Christmas related question for the Current peeps that I've been discussing with my friends (I'm alone in my conclusions!) - I'm sorry if it's a bit off topic.

      As a parent, I don't see any reason to lie to my kids about Santa Claus. Why build this huge lie just to let them down? It's not as if all children get this ridiculous tradition, the majority of which I assume are pretty well adjusted. Yes, I'll come out and say it. It seems like a cheap way to condition your children into believing in an omnipotent being (he sees you when you're sleeping, folks!) who performs impossible miracles (all the houses in the world in ONE NIGHT?) all in the name of rewarding you for being good (so be good for goodness sake...uh, or for the sake of a reward system) ...sound familiar?

      It's not that I intend to raise my kids as atheists; I want to introduce them to a variety of worldviews and philosophies. But why must I bear the insane burden of leading my innocent children into a lie for a societal pressure? Does Christmas (or whatever you are celebrating) become less special or meaningful just because you don't believe that Santa is real? (Or that Jesus was real? Or that God is real?)

    • 2 years ago
  • desertcat
    • 0
      desertcat  
    • DeliaTheArtist:

      Delia: Christmas and getting ready for it was the best time for me and my brothers. I believe in Santa even though each year I write him for a yellow Tonka dump truck. I know it wasn't him that denied me but my mother who thought little girls should only play with dolls and not dump trucks. Christmas time should be special for children with all the decorations and traditions. But I do believe that when the kids reach 13 they should be taught to help others as they are too old to burden their parents with spending so much on gifts. Many years ago I put the age limit of 13 on buying gifts and with the money I would of spent on the others I gave instead to the local food bank or animal shelter.

      I would just like to see along with Christian and Jewish holy symbols along side them a statue of Mother Earth Gaia and Mithras.

    • 2 years ago
  • tangibleparadox
    • 0
      tangibleparadox  
    • DeliaTheArtist:

      i'm with you, delia. :)

      i'd like to teach my kids along the lines of my mother's answer to my brother's question of "is santa real?" which, in summation, is that no, santa isn't physically real, but what is celebrated is the spirit of giving which santa represents. everyone is santa in their own way. something like that.

    • 2 years ago
  • LadybugLady
  • KSirys
  • desertcat
    • 0
      desertcat  

    • forgot Mithramas. Dec 25th is his birthday stolen by the Vatican to stop the peasants from celebrating the Winter Solstice. It took a couple hundred years for them to even consider celebrating the birth of their leader. Oops, forgot he was born a Jew to save his people, it was Paul who brought in the non Jews. The Winter Solstice is the one true holiday we should be celebrating in December. Besides any good Christian can tell you the custom of the tree, holly, yule log,pagan customs. Frosty, Rudolph, Santa invented to sell products, 3 wise men originally 2, 3rd added a couple hundred years later. 3 wise men, priests of Zoroaster's looking for the child Mithras. Shepards out in December, not in the middle east they weren't

      Santa Claus has a red suit, ;he's a communist
      And a beard and white hair, must be a pacifist
      Whats in that pipe that he smoking
      Mr. Claus sneaks in your house at night
      He must be a dope fiend to keep you up all night
      (pause of mr. claus, Arlo Gunthrie)

    • 2 years ago
  • snarly
    • 0
      snarly  

    • I prefer to think of it as Yule, which it was long before the myth of christ was stolen from the previous religions, virgin birth, december 25th and all.

    • 2 years ago
  • Progresshiv
more from Community:
from the community

top videos