Mark's Notebook

'Happy Holidays' protesters overlooking the real problem

Republican-American

Do you have the slightest belief that that 80-hour-a-week automaton ringing up your DVD at the local mall actually cares whether you have a Merry Christmas, happy holiday, or Rockin' Ramadan? Next year, they'll be replacing him with a self-service machine, and you'll probably be able to plug in your tailor-made greeting. "For Episcopalians, press 1. For Zoroastrians, press 6."

But Christians are offended. They're getting the shaft, no matter what the soothsayers scrutinizing the presidential election results say. It's not just Macy's. It's Target, which has given the Salvation Army the boot, insisting that the groups' euphonious pleas make shoppers feel guilty and open the doors for any other bleating mendicant to plead his case on Target's sectarian steps.

The problem is not the de-Christianization of Christmas. It's the commercialization of it. The celebration of the most humble and sacred of events has been commodified and exploited to the execrable point that we are actually boycotting stores that don't commercialize our holiday enough.

Christian groups do themselves a disservice taking on canards that make them look like sanctimonious ninnies. With so much in the world at stake, castigating the mall clerks seems about as useful as debating how many angels can dance on the head of a pin.

http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=14087

Articles

Last updated Tuesday 13 May 2008