Boycotting the 'Holiday' Boycott

(revised from last year)


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.