The War on Christmas
So I was watching the "O'Reilly Factor" last night and his opening diatribe was about how traditional Americans were winning the war on Christmas. He then went on to describe the various fronts of the war and how christian-Americans were winning. The first thing he talked about was the fact that Target, Lowe's, and Walmart have decided to embrace Christmas advertising. Apparently Lowe's has been selling "Holiday Trees" this year and Walmart greeters have been saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas." Well, that is no more. Retail chains have been boycotted and ridiculed for their decisions to be more inclusive during the holiday season. As a result they have abandoned their religion-neutral policies and re-embraced the Christian majority.
Bill O'Reilly believes that pressure from un-American secularists are responsible for the initial move away from Christmas-specific advertising and that a resurgence of traditional christian values is responsible for the change back. The ACLU and other anti-Americans have bullied retailers into changing their ways. Luckily, various religious groups have persuaded the retailers to embrace their heritage. No matter how unpopular the decision, these retailers are recognizing the existence of Christmas. This proves, he says, that we are beating back the liberals in the war against christmas.
I have an alternate explanation. Perhaps the initial shift away from "Christmas"-themed advertising toward "holiday"-themed advertising was an attempt by retailers to, I don't know, MAKE MORE MONEY by appealing to a larger audience. And maybe the "embrace" of traditional christmas values was a response to the fact that the initial shift DID NOT MAKE MONEY. Instead of attributing Lowe's decision to change "Holiday Trees" back to "Christmas Trees" has to do with the fact that they sell more product under the latter than the former and nothing at all to do with the fact that they respect the Christian majority. Is it possible, Mr. O'Reilly, that what retailers really care about is PROFIT, and not their immortal souls? Maybe we should think about that for a second or two.
Bill O'Reilly believes that pressure from un-American secularists are responsible for the initial move away from Christmas-specific advertising and that a resurgence of traditional christian values is responsible for the change back. The ACLU and other anti-Americans have bullied retailers into changing their ways. Luckily, various religious groups have persuaded the retailers to embrace their heritage. No matter how unpopular the decision, these retailers are recognizing the existence of Christmas. This proves, he says, that we are beating back the liberals in the war against christmas.
I have an alternate explanation. Perhaps the initial shift away from "Christmas"-themed advertising toward "holiday"-themed advertising was an attempt by retailers to, I don't know, MAKE MORE MONEY by appealing to a larger audience. And maybe the "embrace" of traditional christmas values was a response to the fact that the initial shift DID NOT MAKE MONEY. Instead of attributing Lowe's decision to change "Holiday Trees" back to "Christmas Trees" has to do with the fact that they sell more product under the latter than the former and nothing at all to do with the fact that they respect the Christian majority. Is it possible, Mr. O'Reilly, that what retailers really care about is PROFIT, and not their immortal souls? Maybe we should think about that for a second or two.
posted by Fishfrog at 8:43 PM
3 Comments:
do people honestly think that a holiday tree is any different than a christmas tree? naming it differently does not change it and therefore include more people. A tree is a christmas tradition. If I buy a menorah and call it a multi-candle holder its still a menorah.
As you correctly point out, Squishy, the relabeling of Christmas trees is especially bizarre. The only people who purchase cut pine trees in December are people who are celebrating Christmas. Calling them Holiday Trees is strange indeed.
Holiday trees are silly. Anntiblog tells me that some people put up something called a "Hannukah Bush," which is really just a Christmas tree. Anntiblog thinks that's dumb as well.
Post a Comment
<< Home