Wal-Mart Confronted on 'Happy Holidays' Options

[Chii]

Wal-Mart Confronted on 'Happy Holidays'
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A group of religious protesters demonstrated outside a Wal-Mart superstore Saturday, hoping to turn away customers by calling attention to the retailer's decision to use "happy holidays" rather than "merry Christmas" in its seasonal advertising.

But even shoppers who agreed with the protesters weren't willing to interrupt their quest for holiday deals.

"I believe in Christ, and I don't like the use of 'xmas' or the use of 'happy holidays,'" said Steven Van Noy, 39, as he left the store loaded down with packages. "The bottom line is that they had what I needed at Wal-Mart, so I went to Wal-Mart to buy it."

Controversy over the secularization of Christmas is nothing new, but this year religious groups are publicly taking on retailers who have decided to tone down the religious aspects of the holiday in their store decorations and promotional material.

In an online petition, the American Family Association recently gathered more than 500,000 signatures asking Target to include Christmas in its promotions. Stores such as Sears and Wal-Mart are facing boycotts.

Wal-Mart spokeswoman Amy Wyatt said the company has made no effort to remove Christmas from its holiday ads. She said a promotion set to run from mid-November to early January was simply misunderstood: its slogan is "home for the holidays."

"It was a matter of choosing a slogan that carries through the entire season," Wyatt said. "The signs went up before Thanksgiving and won't be taken down until after New Year's. The idea was to focus on the family."

About 50 protesters took part in Saturday's demonstration, organized by religious leaders. d**k Otterstad of the Church of the Divide donned a Santa Claus costume and greeted shoppers with the message: Don't forget about the meaning of Christmas.

"It is insulting that Wal-Mart has chosen to ignore the reason for the season," Otterstad said. "Taking the word 'Christmas' out of the holiday implies there's something sinful about it. ... This is a part of our culture."

what is the big deal with "happy holidays"? not everyone celebrates christmas, have these people not heard of kwanzaa or hanukkah? "happy holidays" just covers all the bases.

[*digital.fragrance*]

I wish people would just say, "merry christmas" - it's an official holiday anyway. It's not like Dec. 25th is marked down in calendars as "Holiday."

Also, I think Christians need to realize that "Xmas" isn't bad. The "x" is from the greek letter that looks like an "x." The letter means ichythus (sp?), which means fish (you know that the fish symbol means Christian), and is often used as an abbreiviation for the word "Christian." My Bible teacher often used that letter on the marker board, and we about died because we thought it was wrong... then he told us what it really meant.