The holiday season has been turned into a battle zone. Statements such as “peace on earth” and showing goodwill towards others have been drowned out by controversy, as political pundits, such as Sean Hannity and Bill O’Reilly, renew the outcry against the “secular media’s censorship” of the word “Christmas” in advertisements and corporate America’s supposed “discrimination” against Christianity.
I am reminded of the scene in the 1966 animated “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” where the title character is bombarded by the imaginary cacophony of The Who’s musical instruments: “Season’s Greetings” and “Xmas” and “Oh, the noise! Oh, the Noise! Noise! Noise! Noise!”
By nitpicking over the semantics of advertisers, advocates of the “War on Christmas” are completely missing the true meaning of the holiday.
It is enormously arrogant to assume that all businesses that use the phrase “Happy Holidays” are doing so to distinctly target Christians. America, a “melting pot” nation, is composed of a variety of people groups, languages and worldviews. With the steady increase of religious diversity in the 21st century, it is wise for companies to attempt to reach the broadest demographic possible.
Furthermore, it is highly offensive when groups demand that businesses advocate Christmas to the exclusion of all other festivities. On Nov. 11, 2009, the American Family Association, also known as AFA, called for a two month boycott of Gap Inc. for “the company’s censorship of the word ‘Christmas.’” In an attempt at appeasement, Gap launched an advertising campaign the following day which featured multicultural dancers singing about Christmas, Hannukah, Kwanzaa and the Winter Solstice, or “whatever holiday you wanukkah.”
However, despite the company respecting their request, the AFA took offense at Gap Inc.’s new commercial for its “cavalier approach towards Christmas,” specifically “(comparing) Christmas to the pagan holiday called "Solstice”… which is celebrated by Wiccans who practice witchcraft.”
Not only is the latter statement a broad generalization about an event that has numerous cultural significances, it calls to attention the AFA’s, and “War on Christmas” defenders’, “my way or the highway” mentality when it comes to Christmas observances. The AFA’s response to Gap Inc.’s commercial is akin to a child asking her parents for vanilla flavored ice cream and being dissatisfied when she receives Neapolitan — having exactly what she asked for but being unhappy with the presence of additional material.
Gap Inc. specifically stated that the intention of the new commercial was never to deny the significance of any holiday, but to affirm all celebrations.
"(Gap Inc. has) always been (an) inclusive, accessible (brand)… we embrace diversity across all of our customers, and more importantly respect their beliefs …. We recognize and fully appreciate that many… customers celebrate different holidays around this time… so we (focused) our marketing on the joys of the holiday season as a whole,” Bill Chandler, Vice President of Corporate Communications of Gap Inc., said in an email to USA TODAY.
The campaigns initiated by groups such as the AFA against inclusive advertisers merely amount to strong-arm tactics that attempt to force businesses to practice favoritism. If Christmas advocates truly wanted to restore Christmas as the preeminent holiday, rather than addressing the "problem" of marketing language, they would go attempt to reach the individuals who hold to alternative religious beliefs-- the very people advertisers are trying to reach with their broad commercials in the first place!
Is it unfortunate that some businesses specifically exclude Christmas in their commercials during December? Yes it is, but this fact should not devalue the meaning of the holiday for Christians — spreading joy and hope to others while celebrating the birth of Jesus. Passionate believers would do well to not place so much emphasis on the media’s depiction of the holiday in a market already obsessed with consumerism. Rather, they should remember that what’s on TV does not always reflect their personal beliefs and in no way infringes on their right to celebrate in whatever manner they please. By solely focusing on the material world, it merely proves how shallow and misdirected "War on Christmas" people truly are.
I am once again reminded of the Grinch and the important lesson he learns at the end of the book: “Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store. Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more…”
