Posts Tagged ‘Christmas’
Goodbye Christmas Time, Now It’s “Me Time”
Written by Ron McClure Jr.
Saturday, 17 January 2009 06:21
1 Comment

As a Christian, it may seem uncharacteristic to make such a statement. Obviously, as Christians we celebrate the birth of our Savior, and we do this for good reason. However, Christmas can bring out the narcissism in the best of us. For instance, I don’t believe that the “Wise Men” were involved in altercations with others to obtain their gifts for Jesus. I mean, I seriously doubt that Wise Man number three was involved in a fist fight over the last vile of myrrh at “Magi-Mart.”

Why is Christmas such a big deal? Don’t we regularly partake in communion to remember and honor the Illustrious J.C.? Not to sound like scrooge or follow the lead of the ever-enduring “Grinches” of the world, but what makes December 25th such a big deal anyway. Jesus was born once, and that was many years ago. Why don’t we celebrate every six months? Or should we celebrate each month? Why don’t we treat Christmas like a drinking game? I mean, we could all celebrate the birth of Jesus whenever Ralph Kramden says, “one of these days Alice…” Or maybe we could celebrate each time Barack Obama uses the word “change,” or when John McCain says, “my friends.”

My point is this, December 25th is a subjective date set by humans. It somehow makes us feel warm and fuzzy to tell stories and exchange gifts (usually out of obligation) that we don’t use, or more likely, we don’t need. We say to everyone, “Merry Christmas” (or Happy Holidays if we choose not to offend). We work soup kitchens for the homeless, and then we wait for other people to say “thank you,” or, “that Ron is such a caring and generous guy.” We smile at each other, visit the elderly, sing inspirational songs and generally engage in activities that make “us” feel good. After the Christmas season, we sit back and say, “I’m glad that’s over, now things can return to normal.” Is that what it means to be a Christian?

[Jesus] said to them, "You are the ones who justify yourselves in the eyes of men, but God knows your hearts. What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight” (Luke 16:15).

Christmas is a special time of year, but “Christmas Spirit” is nothing but pagan hogwash. We should carry the Christian Spirit with us all year long.

 
Lowe’s caught selling Christmas trees under an assumed name
Written by Santiago
Wednesday, 14 November 2007 05:08
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After dubbing Christmas trees in their 2007 Holiday Catalogue, "Family trees," Lowe's has come forward and attributed the "assumed name" to a "mistake" in advertising.

According to the American Family Association (AFA) Lowe's advertised hundreds of gift items in their catalogue, including scores of "Family trees." In fact, the word "Christmas" only appears two times in the entire holiday catalog. The ads mentioning Christmas cover only 12 square inches of the 5236 square inches available.

"Lowe's even has one of their Family trees turned upside down on a stand," said an AFA representative. "We are not sure what the significance of that is."

The company apologized for the confusion created in its 2007 holiday catalog when it headlined the page of Christmas trees "family trees." The error was not caught before the publication was distributed, and Lowe's says it is disappointed in the breakdown in its proofing process.
Lowe's has said that they refer to trees as Christmas trees in this season's television and magazine ads and in its advertising flyers. The company says it is redoubling its efforts to proof its catalogs in the future to prevent this issue from recurring.

Editor's Note: This article cross posted at MYVOICENEWS.COM

So much for the news part of this bit; now let's get real. Does anybody really feel good about this? I mean what actually happened here? Basically, Lowe's caved to economic pressure. They were coerced into not being P.C. And the folks over at AFA (who I largely support, BTW) apparently feel that this is a good thing. They and others feel that the spirit of Christmas was honored by this. I'm not so sure.

We all know that if the AFA and their grassroots supporters hadn't raised hell about this, there would have been no retraction and no apology from Lowes. The folks at Lowes aren't stupid. They realize that Christians like myself won't support businesses who want our dollar as a result of the so called Holy Day, but don't want to honor it by paying homage to our traditions. And they have every right NOT to honor it. But they're realizing that if they don't, they will, literally, pay a price for that. So let's be honest. Lowe's didn't make a mistake with their holiday catalogue. (I know it; you know it, and Lowe's knows it.) They just realized (allegedly) that in doing so, they'd piss off a lot of Christians and lose money. Then again, they don't want to miss out on everyone else's dollars either. So what do they do? They print the holiday catalogue which ingratiates Lowe's with everyone who couldn't care less about the reason for the season, and then chalk the whole thing up to a mistake in advertising, while apologizing profusely to the Christians. We Christians, in turn, not wanting to appear UNChristian, forgive them and once again patronize their establishment. You've gotta admit, those advertising executives at Lowes are pretty shrewd.