I saw this on TV this morning. Here we go again...
Walmart Facing Boycott over banning Christmas
by Jay on 11-10-05 @ 8:14 am Filed under News
Talk about the political correctness backlash: via WND
A Catholic advocacy group has launched a national boycott against Wal-Mart, claiming the world’s No. 1 retailer has in effect “banned” Christmas, while promoting other seasonal holidays such as Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.
But Wal-Mart tells WorldNetDaily it has “absolutely not” banned Christmas, but is just “trying to serve all our customers for the holiday season.”
According to the New York-based Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the controversy was sparked when a woman recently complained to Wal-Mart that the store was replacing its “Merry Christmas” greeting with “Happy Holidays.”
The League says the woman received an e-mail response from a customer-service representative, reading exactly as follows:
Walmart is a world wide organization and must remain conscious of this. The majority of the world still has different practices other than “christmas” which is an ancient tradition that has its roots in Siberian shamanism. The colors associated with “christmas” red and white are actually a representation of of the aminita mascera mushroom. Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses, mistletoe from the Celts, yule log from the Goths, the time from the Visigoth and the tree from the worship of Baal. It is a wide wide world.
Catholic League president Bill Donohue speculated the writer of that e-mail was perhaps drunk, so he sent the response to Dan Fogelman in Wal-Mart’s public-relations department.
Donohue received back a response from Fogelman, who wrote in part:
As a retailer, we recognize some of our customers may be shopping for Chanukah or Kwanzaa gifts during this time of year and we certainly want these customers in our stores and to feel welcome, just as we do those buying for Christmas. As an employer, we recognize the significance of the Christmas holiday among our family of associates … and close our stores in observance, the only day during the year that we are closed.
“It’s nice to know that Wal-Mart is closed on a federal holiday,” explains Donohue, who says he’s asking the leaders of 126 religious organizations spanning seven religious communities to boycott the retail giant.
He points out, and WND confirmed, that when using the company’s online search engine, if the world “Hanukkah” is entered, 200 items for sale are returned. The term “Kwanzaa” yields 77. But when “Christmas” is entered, the message returned says: “We’ve brought you to our ‘Holiday’ page based on your search.”
The war to secularize Christmas, and erase its true meaning has already started, and the ACLU haven’t even gotten involved yet. |
