I was looking in an old e-mail account and found an interesting message from the American Family Association. You might see why I didn’t bothering to update the AFA to my new address:
November 30, 2009
Dear Friend,
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.
On November 28, Gap’s Old Navy division broadcast a television commercial featuring its “Supermodelquins” proudly cheering “Merry Christmas,” along with Christmas trees, lights and ornaments. View the commercial here.
As a result of Gap’s efforts, AFA is ending the Christmas boycott of the company and its Old Navy and Banana Republic stores. Thank you for getting involved!
Even FoxNews has recognized your efforts, saying you and your AFA have been very effective against retailers who won’t recognize Christmas in their advertising. See the video.
Again, thanks to your involvement, retailers are listening – and they are changing the way they do business!
In our ongoing effort to encourage other companies to recognize Christmas, your AFA has sent certified letters to Best Buy and Dick’s Sporting Goods, asking them to include “Christmas” in their advertising. You will find these two companies listed on AFA’s “Naughty or Nice” listing of retailers. We will let you know how they respond.
It is very important that you forward this alert to your friends and family members.
Isn’t that great! The Gap has its “Supermodelquins” (whatever the heck those are) cheering, “Merry Christmas!” What could be more about the real meaning of Christmas, after all, than that?
Every year, we go through this same stupid exercise. A bunch of people get up in arms because retailers might not adequately pay lip service to Christmas in the midst of indulging our gluttony and materialism.
Really, who cares what the mannequins say? In what way does this celebrate Christmas in any real, meaningful, and Christ-centered way?
The whole thing strikes me as Pharisaical. The AFA is putting all of this effort into making sure that people, whether they’re Christians or not, say something sort-of Christian-sounding. This does … what, exactly? … for the Kingdom?
Frankly, it might be more honoring to Christ if He was left out of the advertising.
A lot of these non-church ministries focus on making mountains out of molehills for the purpose of raising lots of money to fight a boogeyman.
Is it silly to rename Christmas trees as “family trees”? Of course it is.
But does Christ’s Kingdom really get advanced so much as a step just because some store puts the word “Christmas” in its sales flyers?
This is a great way for Christians to waste a lot of time and effort each year, fighting a battle that absolutely doesn’t matter.