The War on Christmas
Good news from the American Family Association’s website:
“Gap has heard you loud and clear. After thousands of phone calls, emails, and petitions, Gap has just released a very “Merry Christmas” television commercial…As a result of Gap’s efforts, AFA is ending the Christmas boycott of the company.”
The latest skirmish in the war on Christmas has ended favorably, with the only casualty being a mannequin, who was treated for shrapnel and/or ice-skating wounds and released. It’s good to know that in America, harried moms can still buy the too-tight jeans made by enslaved children in other countries their teenage daughters need in order to present themselves as objects, and do it in a store that has been bullied into understanding the true meaning of that starry, long ago Bethlehem night. For a second there, I was worried we were losing the meaning of God’s risky birth to dirt poor parents in a dirty stable far away from anything resembling a safe place to have a baby. Thank God, the AFA has kept that from happening in the only way possible: political action!
Call me a softie, but I can almost see it now:
Joseph: (with that faraway look in his eye): “Just think, honey! One day, political action groups will cajole large corporations into recording T.V. commercials in which they give lip service to a holiday loosely based on what just happened here.”
Mary: “Um, I really need your help right now…”
Joseph: “They’ll use these commercials to sell clothing to popularity-hungry children. I mean, this is big. REAL big.”
Mary: “Seriously, I need some hel–”
Joseph: “Somehow, doesn’t that make all of tonight worth it?”
Mary: “What is wrong with you?!? Shut up and help me stop the bleeding!”
Joseph: “Ooh, Ms. ‘Full of Grace’ is getting a bit snappy, isn’t she?”
Ah, Christmas…
My two favorite things about this whole deal:
1. The commenter on the post linked above who said they hope Gap’s ‘change of heart’ was ‘sincere’. Do boycotts actually result in sincere changes of heart? Is that even the goal?
2. Victoria’s Secret is on the AFA’s “Naughty List” (an odd name, given that these are the same people who don’t like it when Santa stuff replaces Jesus) for not supporting Christmas. What exactly would Victoria’s Secret honoring Baby Jesus look like? Would they make the American Family Association’s ‘Nice’ list for it?
Fight on, brave Christians, and maybe soon even more companies will be afraid of our buying power. If instilling fear into companies by refusing to buy junk from them-instead promising to buy junk elsewhere-doesn’t honor Jesus’ birth, I just don’t know what does.
Doug Life 