Boycotting the Holiday Boycott

Greetings everyone,



This is not my holiday letter, but a recent editorial I wrote on the boycott of
stores that don't use 'Christmas-exclusivist' language in its advertising.
There were many more aspects of this issue I could have commented on, but I was
limited to 300 words. Ramadan has already passed, otherwise I would have
included Muslims specifically as well.

peace, and will write more on life and the New Orleans trip soon

Le Anne

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I am one Christian who would like to buck this year's fundamentalist trend by
wishing all of my neighbors 'Happy Holidays.' By this, I mean all the
holidays: Christmas, yes, but also Thanksgiving, New Year's, and Epiphany.
For six long weeks we have a number of holidays, or 'holy-days,' and I see
wise stewardship of resources in creating advertising that lasts an entire
season.

Where is the merit behind the extremists' claims of a war against Christmas?
I do not see what any truly faithless person would find meaningful in
celebrating our holy day anyway. However, I do see that Christmas can be a
means of grace, a doorway by which questions of faith behind traditions come to
be asked, and people search for meaning which goes deeper than piles of
gift-wrap.

If anything should be boycotted at Christmas, it is materialism itself, not
gestures of hospitality and welcome. Our retail centers are not, and should not
purport to be, Christian institutions. I do not go to Kmart seeking faith, I go
seeking socks. A quick review of Wal-Mart's exploitative personnel policies
certainly demonstrates it is not a Christian institution. But, the extremists
are not boycotting Wal-Mart for its treatment of its poor.

What disturbs me most about the 'inclusive greetings boycott' is the
implications of anti-Semitism. Hanukah is the most prominent non-Christian
holiday celebrated at this time. Why would we want to so forcefully exclude
Jews from our greetings of goodwill? Meanwhile, I would like to wish our Jewish
friends Happy Holidays as well.

Instead of picking this fight, I wish these extremists would get off their
behinds and focus on feeding the poor, caring for the sick, visiting those in
prison, and working for peace. That would be a useful Christian witness, any
time of year.