It would appear that the retail industry has turned into the Grinch who Stole Christmas. If you’ve been out shopping lately, you’ve probably noticed the disturbing trend—more store clerks are consistently and quite Grinch-like wishing you a politically correct “Happy Holidays.” Must be the Grinch has stolen their Christmas! I do sincerely hope that you wish these Grinch associates an enthusiastic “Merry Christmas!” in return. In fact, I would encourage you to find the Managing Grinch and politely inform him/her how disappointed you are that they’re not celebrating Christmas, and that you will be doing your Christmas shopping elsewhere this year.

Retailers depend on Christmas time to significantly boost their sales for the year. However, if they choose, Grinch-like, not to acknowledge Christmas, then why should we patronize their stores? Retailers, such as Gap and K-Mart, are supposedly afraid of offending patrons who don’t celebrate Christmas. Apparently, their marketing departments are so inept that they are unaware that 95% of Americans celebrate Christmas each year and 69% of us prefer the greeting “Merry Christmas” over “Happy Holidays.” Why aren’t these Grinch retailers worried about offending the overwhelming majority of their patrons?

Some stores are starting to get the picture. For instance, according to the Washington-based Family Research Council, because of significant public pressure, Wal-mart has decided to support traditional marriage and family and promote Christmas in its stores. Because of the overwhelming reaction of concerned shoppers, Wal-mart has ended its corporate contributions to national homosexual groups and decided not to offer its married employee benefits to homosexual employees. In addition, Wal-mart has responded to pressure to stop censoring the word “Christmas” from its marketing materials this year! In fact, Wal-mart has a “Christmas Central” online store and 1,950 matches for the word “Christmas” on its website.

Unfortunately, not all retailers are as open and responsive to their customers as Wal-mart. Sometimes retailers try to make us, as consumers, think they have reversed their position. They think they can make us easily “buy” both their goods and their rhetoric. Kohl’s department store provides an example of this duplicity.

Kohl’s is promising consumers they will promote Christmas while at the same time effectively burying any mention of the word “Christmas” on their website. In an e-mail response to a customer complaint about their “holiday” promotions, Kohl’s boldly claims that they are “embracing the Christmas spirit.” However, a search on their website for the word “Christmas” returned only 19 matches, compared to 181 matches for the word “holiday.” Kohls.com has a “Holiday Shop” center and a “Home for the Holidays” site, but very little about Christmas.

The point is, unless Grinch-like retailers think their bottom-line will be threatened, they are not going to take us seriously when we ask them to publicly acknowledge Christmas in their stores and advertisements. We need to back up our polite but firm requests with actions—we might even have to change how and where we do our Christmas shopping.

Remember, the retailers censoring Christmas are bowing to pressure from a decided minority. They are content to ignore our opinions and dodge our requests because they feel quite certain we will not change our shopping habits. However, if we actually act on our belief that Christmas is Christmas is Christmas, and boycott Grinch retailers who censor Christmas, eventually, they are going to have to respond.

Retail stores exist in a supply-and-demand economy. If they can get away with this outrageous attempt to take Christianity out of the Christmas season, then it means that their customers, the 95% of us who celebrate Christmas, don’t care enough to act.

Christmas is an international holiday, recognized and celebrated throughout the United States and the world. Retailers, who cater to our needs and desires, should not be able to redefine Christmas for us.

Let’s make sure we patronize stores that are celebrating Christmas and avoid our local Grinch retailers. And let’s take every opportunity to heartily wish that clerk ringing up our latest purchase a most un-Grinch-like “Merry Christmas”!

For Wisconsin Family Council, I’m Julaine Appling, reminding you the Prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

http://www.saychristmas.org/rights/default.aspx?cid=3549, accessed 12/6/2007.