Obviously, Some "Christian" Boycotters Don't Need Facts ! ( Bearing False Witness ? )
Abilene Reporter News Letters to the Editor
Christmas message
December 8, 2005
Wednesday's letter to the editor from Art Green that indicates that ''Research has shown'' that JC Penney is not using the word Christmas in their advertising. I have already taken several calls this morning from customers advising me they will no longer shop at our store if this statement is true. Of course, the statement is completely false.
In fact, Christmas icons such as trees and Santas are reflected both in our stores and on our Web site. The word ''Christmas'' is used several times on www.jcpenney.com. Perhaps most obvious is our traditional Christmas catalog book. (entitled ''Christmas 2005 Big Gift Book'')!
Our company has no corporate guidance or policy that prohibits stores or associates from wishing customers a ''Merry Christmas'' or using the word Christmas in ANY messaging.
I am not well-versed on the ARN's policies or guidelines for reviewing or qualifying statements presented as fact within the ''Letters to the Editor'' column. I do feel, however, that when the letter addresses specific local businesses (and certainly when the author urges readers to boycott specific local businesses), at least a cursory review of the facts should be required.
It would have taken just a few moments to call our store or to log onto our Web site in order to realize that the facts stated in Mr. Green's letter regarding JC Penney were completely untrue.
Merry Christmas!
Don Pittman
JC Penney
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_letters_editor/article/0,1874,ABIL_7984_4297527,00.html
----------------------
By any other name
December 7, 2005
On the radio last Saturday, I first heard about Target and Lowe's stores not using the name ''Christmas'' in their advertising. Research has shown that many more stores such as Kmart, Sears, Home Depot, Walgreen's, J.C. Penney, Best Buy, Wal-Wart, Office Max, Staples and others are taking the same action this year.
The reasoning used for this politically correct speech is, ''We don't want to offend anyone.'' Of course they mean, anyone other than Christians. It is acceptable to offend Christians.
The purpose of this letter is to encourage you to shop for ''Christmas'' presents at the stores that sell ''Christmas'' gifts. Buy your ''Christmas'' tree at a store that sells ''Christmas'' trees not ''Holiday'' trees. Michael's and Garden Place are two business that still sell Christmas trees, and they should be commended for this.
Due to this issue we broke a many-year family tradition of buying our Christmas tree at Lowe's. I then called the store and told a manager about our action. Please do the same to the stores you do business with. We should not put up with this effort to change the name of Christmas. It appears the Grinch is alive and well.
Art Green
Abilene
source: http://www.reporter-news.com/abil/op_letters_editor/article/0,1874,ABIL_7984_4294302,00.html
-----------------
Religion & Values
Posted on Sun, Dec. 04, 2005
Putting Christmas back in season's greetings
For some Christians, the current holiday season has raised a big question of semantics.
BY STEPHEN KIEHL AND ABIGAIL TUCKER
Baltimore Sun
Bob Chance cultivates seven sweet-smelling acres of trees -- Douglas fir, Norway spruce, Colorado blue -- and he can rattle off their names with precision. He doesn't care what his customers call them.
''I plant them in the spring, I dig them in the fall, and in the winter I sell them as a symbol,'' says Chance, owner of a Harford County, Md., tree farm. ``But I don't micromanage the terminology.''
This year, there are plenty of others to do that for him.
In a campaign led by the Rev. Jerry Falwell, Christian conservatives have come to the defense of the term ''Christmas tree'' this holiday season.
They have lambasted governments that have put ''holiday trees'' on display and targeted retailers that wish customers ''Happy Holidays,'' threatening them with boycotts and pestering them with phone calls and online petitions.
The groups say Christmas is under attack, and they have amassed an army of more than 1,500 lawyers to defend it.
''We want to make sure that Christmas is safe, but we know that it is not,'' said Mat Staver, president of the Liberty Counsel, a group endorsed by Falwell that offers free legal services to those fighting limits on Christmas displays.
''The renaming of Christmas trees to holiday trees is symbolic of what's happening with Christmas,'' Staver said. 'When people seek to rename what otherwise is a secular symbol simply because of the name `Christmas,' that shows the depths of political correctness run amok.''
Thursday night, city leaders in Boston lighted what until a few days ago had been called a ''holiday tree.'' Under pressure from conservative groups, Mayor Thomas M. Menino changed the evergreen's name to ``Christmas tree.''
Last week, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Dennis Hastert, an Illinois Republican, ordered the Capitol Holiday Tree, so called since the 1990s, be renamed the Capitol Christmas Tree.
And Lowe's home improvement stores, which had put up a ''Holiday Trees'' banner at all its locations, took down the banners last week after getting more than 1,000 phone calls lodging complaints. A spokeswoman said Lowe's has ``proudly sold Christmas trees in our stores for decades.''
The movement to defend the term Christmas has been led by Falwell and Bill O'Reilly, a Fox News talk-show host. Falwell launched a ''Friend or Foe Christmas Campaign'' with a stated goal of preventing religious discrimination. He sent an e-mail to 500,000 supporters asking them to stand up against those who try to squelch use of the term Christmas.
Falwell has said he wants to take back Christmas from ''grinches'' such as the American Civil Liberties Union. ''The fact is,'' Falwell told ABC News, ``we've gone on the offense now. We've put them on the defense. We're kicking their butts and they're unhappy.''
O'Reilly has been documenting a so-called ''war'' on Christmas on his Fox program, pointing out retailers that don't use the word ''Christmas'' in their ads. He said the war's goal is ``to get Christianity and spirituality and Judaism out of the public square.''
''The town square is there to reflect the nature of the country,'' he said on his show, adding that ''85 percent of the country is Christian.'' According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 77 percent of Americans say they are Christian.
In any case, groups such as the ACLU and Americans United for Separation of Church and State say Christmas is under no threat from them or anyone else.
''Christmas seems to be widely observed in this country,'' said Joseph Conn, a spokesman for Americans United. ``I don't know if [Falwell] has been to the mall lately, or any number of houses of worship, but it seems to me that Christmas is perfectly safe.''
Conn said Falwell is using the Christmas campaign in an effort to restore his public image, which was damaged in 2001 after his comments that the Sept. 11, terrorist attacks were partly the result of ''the abortionists and the feminists and the gays.'' Conn also said Falwell is trying to get media attention to help his fundraising efforts.
''I hope he gets a lump of coal in his stocking for stirring up all this trouble, because he certainly deserves it,'' Conn said.
Several stores that have been targeted in the Christmas campaigns say they have never had an anti-Christmas policy.
But Wal-Mart got caught in the fray when a seasonal worker sent an e-mail to a customer who had complained that employees were saying ''Happy Holidays'' instead of ``Merry Christmas.''
According to a copy provided by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the e-mail read: '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 the aminita mascera mushroom.''
After the league threatened a boycott of Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer apologized and said the employee who wrote the e-mail no longer works for the company.
When it comes to greeting customers, Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogelman said, 'Our associates are free to wish customers whatever is appropriate in their communities. If that's `Merry Christmas,' that's perfectly fine by us.''
Target stores have also been a focus of the campaign. The conservative American Family Association has called for a boycott of Target because the retailer does not mention ''Christmas'' in its advertising. The association said 600,000 people have signed its online pledge to observe the boycott.
In a statement, Target said there is ''no trend or intent to ban the use of Christmas in our holiday advertising and marketing.'' The store said that, as recently as last year, the word ''Christmas'' was used in its in-store marketing and music. This year the retailer's holiday theme is ''Gather Round,'' which is used in its ads.
Target said its employees can say ''Merry Christmas,'' ''Happy Holidays'' or whatever they choose when greeting customers.
source: http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/living/religion/13320466.htm
-----------------
Bill, Don't let the facts hit you in the a__ on your way out !
Saginaw Township On The O'Reilly Factor Radio Program
(TV5) -- A Mid-Michigan Township makes national news but there's a problem, local officials say the whole thing was made up.
Bill O'Reilly is making the claim that Saginaw Township officials banned residents from wearing red and green during the holiday season. Local officials say he's dead wrong.
Syndicated controversial talk show host Bill O’Reilly said on his radio show:
“In Saginaw , Michigan , the township opposes red and green clothing…on Anyone, In Saginaw Township they basically said anybody, we don’t want you wearing red or green. I would dress up from head to toe in red to green if I were in Saginaw Michigan .”
-- Bill O’Reilly
WNEM TV-5 Talked to Saginaw Township supervisor Tim Braun who says O’Reilly’s comments are flat out not true. Braun goes on to say the township hall has red and green Christmas lights adorning the building at night.
On December 12th the Fox News Channel which broadcasts O’Reilly’s Cable TV show “The O’Reilly Factor” told TV5 it was a radio issue and had nothing to do with the Fox News Channel. TV5 is contacting O’Reilly’s radio producers for their side of the story.
source: wnem - tv 5
------------
And Mr O doesn't seem to mind bearing false witness again. Just substitute another Town's name !
<< Home