Ron’s Blog

I will not shop walmart for xmas this year and neither will my friends and family. walmart cares more for the non christian then they dont need my money.

By lynda phillips on Nov 19, 2005

Regardless if you believe Christmas is about Jesus or a Fat Man in a red suite - retailers have made their year of of 4 Quarter sales. And what drives those sales? Guess what, 90% of those sales are CHRISTMAS related! The retailers want you to fill your Christmas list’s at their store, but dont want to recognize the reason you are buying. Crazy ! Please do you home work and only shop at stores that will recognize why you are buying/.

By perry on Nov 21, 2005

I’m delighted y’all are refraining from shopping at Walmart, since I think that’s the right thing to do. But for completely different reasons, of course. (See Walmart: The High Cost of Low Price.)

But even as I appreciate the concrete consequence, I’m saddened to think that people will refrain because they’ve decided to use an expression (”Happy Holidays”) that completely includes Xmas, and whose only sin is its failure to exclude the non-Xian minority.

Oh, and while you’re at it, add Target to your “no shopping without excluding non-Xian” hit list: Merry Christmas Target.

By ron on Nov 21, 2005

Well,
I love the lord Jesus Christ who died on the cross for my sins. He is the reason we “non-xion” whatevers are boycotting these stores. Ron you have no idea what you are talking about and as far as I can tell, lost is who you are.
If you want a chance at eternal life please read the book of John.

By suzanne on Nov 24, 2005

Well OK. Just as long as you’re doing it for Jesus. Because he’d no doubt be totally pissed if he had to share the giving of Walmart gifts with anybody who doesn’t worship Him, Him, Him.

By ron on Nov 25, 2005

I WILL NOT BE SHOPPING AT WALMART OR TARGET THIS CHRISTMAS SEASON NOR WILL I BE SHOPPING THERE EVER AGAIN!!! THE CHRISTIANS WHO HAVE SAT BACK FOR SO LONG ARE STANDING UP!!!! WATCH OUT WALMART AND TARGET LOOK WHAT WE DID TO JOHN KERRY!!! WE HAVE AN ENORMOUS VOICE AND WE WILL BE HEARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

By BROOKE on Nov 30, 2005

Can anyone tell me who is truly offended by the word, “Christmas”? No one has been offended by it before in the past century.

Even if there are a few offended people, there are far more people offended by the word, “Christmas” being removed from public life and shopping malls.

Why do 90% of the people have to sacrifice for the few, or the one? Why is it not offensive to celebrate Jewish or Muslim holidays? Why are other religions not being sacrificed?
Why are muslim prayer rooms being built into airports, and many places legally bound to let muslims take breaks every few hours to pray, when anything related to Christianity is banned?

How are we being fair by banning anything related to Christianity? Over 80% of the people in this country are Christian.

I have lived in Japan for the past two years, and every year from November through January, stores are decorated with Christmas decorations with the words, “Merry Christmas” displayed everywhere.
Most of these people are not Christian. Funny how none of them have been offended.

By Justin on Dec 1, 2005

Well, I guess you get the total bigots (”I’ll never shop at X again because they refuse to exclude the non-Xian minority”) and the silly sophists (”Aren’t you just unreasonable for being offended”, when nobody said they were “offended” at all, and then sliding into “banning anything related to Xianity”.)

But down deep, it’s all the same, isn’t it? “Don’t expand the inclusion of the minorities, because we’re the f-ing majority, dammit!” Hmm, where have we heard that before? Hint: Strom Thurmond, Dred Scott, Lester Maddox.

By John on Dec 1, 2005

The Christians who have sat back are standing up?? Are you serious??? You’re out of your mind, right?

and Justin, you’re telling me that nobody is offended by the word Christmas — but at the same time, you’re completely offended by the words “Happy Holidays,” which includes, what, everybody? If this was a sign saying “Happy Hannukah” with a guy standing there with a lance stuck through Santa’s head, well maybe you’d have a point.

“Why do 90% of the people have to sacrifice for the few, or the one?”

Who is sacrificing? For decades Jews and others were merely tolerated…but somehow simply saying “Happy Holidays” is equivalent to some kind of heathen attempt to kill Christmas? Get over yourself. So you’re essentially saying I have to tolerate you but you don’t have to tolerate me.

“Why are muslim prayer rooms being built into airports, and many places legally bound to let muslims take breaks every few hours to pray, when anything related to Christianity is banned?”

Where? Show me an example of someone who was prevented from worshipping — say, by being forced to work on Sunday instead of attending church. Evidence? Got any? Any at all? Show me the evidence of a person who was not encouraged to run for political office because they were Christian.

Thanks, everyone. Thanks for taking a holiday season - which is stressful enough - and making it even worse. Now I’m going to look forward to people saying “Merry Christmas” and meaning it as a form of aggression. If you all give me your addresses, I’ll go to the store, and for Christmas, I’ll buy you some thicker skin.

By Dave G. on Dec 1, 2005

Hi Dave,

I am not in the least bit offended by Happy Holidays.
I am offended that we are not allowed to say Merry Christmas in many schools or in public places.
I support freedom for ALL religions, but I can not support exclusion. If the majority of people want to celebrate Christmas with a Christmas tree or by saying, Merry Christmas, what is the harm?
I expect all people to celebrate their cultural holidays and days of importance, and I think they should.

About your point on banning Christian practices, you only need to read your local paper. Take a look at some of the metropoliton airports. Ask your retail boss for Sunday’s off because you believe it to be a day of rest, and because of your religion you can not work on that day. You will be laughed at, and most likely not get the job or lose the one you have.
If I say I need to have a 5 minute break 3 times a day or whatever because I am muslim and need to pray, people will bend over backwards and make sure they don’t offend them and let them pray lest they be sued or seen as racist.

I think the muslims should have their time to pray. I think anyone who is Jewish should have their holidays celebrated, and I also believe in the rights of Christians to be able to celebrate Christmas.

We ALL need thicker skins in this world, not just the Christians.

By Justin on Dec 1, 2005

“Yeah! Those Jews and Muslims get all the special breaks! When are the Whit— er, Christians going to get treated fairly?”

Sometimes, I wonder if people are listening to themselves at all. Other times, I fear that they are, and like what they hear.

By John on Dec 1, 2005

John,
This is not about Whit -er Christian supremecy, or special breaks.
This is about reality in this country. Besides that, when did Christianity become a race issue?! It started in the middle east and is now one of the major religions world-wide.

Since when did Christmas become a bad and offensive word.
Since when did the majority of peoples religious beliefs in this country become offensive.
Since when Christmas become the ultimate evil?

I wonder if you are really listening. I don’t want special rights, but I sure don’t want my rights and the rights of millions to suffer.

Freedom of speech and religion have been one of our most cherished rights in this country. Now it seems these rights don’t matter if one in a million doesn’t share your opinion.

These are the rights of all, Christian, Muslim, Jew, and every other person in this country.

By Justin on Dec 1, 2005

I’m listening; whether you are or not — well, I just covered that. If you’re listening to yourself, you should be ashamed of your lies.

The “answers” to your questions is that they all are guilty of failure of presupposition. None of the things you asked about has happened. You and Bill O’Reilly just keep repeating the big lie that these things are happening, in the same way the segregationists told similar big lies to oppose the inclusion of racial minorities.

By John on Dec 1, 2005

What are the lies?
How am I being racist? Whom have I not included in the right to freedom of speech and religion?
What are my presuppositions?
Please show my my lies so that I won’t continue to deceive myself and the rest of you.

By Justin on Dec 1, 2005

What’s with you conservatives — start getting whipped, and you accuse people of calling you a racist?

Nobody called you a racist. Looked to me like John pointed out that the kind of rhetoric/argument you used was suspiciously akin to that used by segregationist racists, and so seemed wrong — since we all agree THEY were wrong, right? I think he assumed you WOULDN’T agree with bad racist rhetoric in order to illustrate your mistakes.

Well done, John.

By Kim P on Dec 1, 2005

Mmm. Sweet.

And Justin, the lies were, as I said, just all the straightforward (and false) presuppositions of your “questions”: That we’ve “made Xianity become a race issue”, tried to make “Christmas become a bad and offensive word”, claimed that “the majority of peoples religious beliefs in this country become offensive”, and in anyway implied that “Christmas is the ultimate evil”.

By John on Dec 1, 2005

I see your point. I missunderstood what you were saying. My questions were exaggerated to make a point as well.

However, my questions remains, why all of a sudden is Christmas under attack? Why is the word so offensive that retailers are taking the word out of their stores? Why are Christmas trees now called Holiday trees?

All of this makes me wonder what is so bad about Christmas that retailers are acting like Christmas (their cash cow) is evil?
If something is evil like racism, or descrimination, you do your best to destroy it. The retailers seem to be doing their best to get rid of “Christmas”. That is why I said some are acting as if Christmas is the ultimate evil.

What is so offensive about Christmas, Christmas trees, Christmas lights, cards, and plays, that you can no longer allow them in many places, and if you do, you change the name?

By Justin on Dec 2, 2005

>I see your point. I missunderstood what
>you were saying. My questions were
>exaggerated to make a point as well.

“As well”? I didn’t see any lies or even exaggerations but yours. But thanks for the half-assed pseudo-apology, even if it is just a warm-up to repeating them below.

>However, my questions remains, why all of
>a sudden is Christmas under attack?

Again with the failed presuppositions — it’s not “under attack” at all, and what bit movement toward inclusivity there’s been hasn’t really been very sudden. What’s suddenly gone up in the last couple of years is the whining noise coming from the asshole right wing.

And to the extent “Happy Holidays” is on the upswing: It’s f-ing WALMART; one of the most conservative retail chains around. They ban CDs with “Parental Advisory” labels; they banned a T-shirt a year or two back that simply said “Someday, a woman will be president”. If this was about politics, Walmart is the LAST place it would happen.

>Why is the word so offensive that retailers
>are taking the word out of their stores?

Again with the lying by failed presupposition. Nobody said the word was offensive, or that people celebrating it was offensive. Those that are changing are clearly trying to adopt a policy with greater inclusiveness, not “avoid a word that’s so offensive”.

>Why are Christmas trees now called
>Holiday trees?

Mostly, they aren’t. When they are, maybe it’s an acknowledgement that others might like them too — as part of some other celebration. Sure, that’s the minority. But just because the majority of customers at Target stores are white, it would be stupid and offensive of them to call their stuff “stuff for white folks”.

>All of this makes me wonder what is so
>bad about Christmas that retailers are
>acting like Christmas (their cash cow) is evil?

All together now: Lying by failed presupposition! (You do the math.)

>The retailers seem to be doing their best to
>get rid of “Christmas”. That is why I said some
>are acting as if Christmas is the ultimate evil.

I think the last thing Walmart wants is to get rid of Xmas, and NOBODY is acting “as if it’s the ultimate evil”. This kind of hyperbole is so pathetic that it brings up the age-old question: Are conservative Limbaugh-O’Reilly droids like you REALLY that stupid, or are you just acting that way to piss people off?

By John on Dec 2, 2005

John, you rule. What an idiotic discussion, and it’s been the last whatever number of years now.

By Dave G. on Dec 2, 2005

I second that. Nicely put, John (and Dave and Kim too).

By ron on Dec 2, 2005

I am christian. I do not mind saying so…I am not offnended if Jews have a holy season. I am not offended if Moslems observe their holy times and traditions…..For those offended by the Christ in Christmas…..when I was a public school room mother for my children, we found ways to involve the non-christmas child in party time…..I did not “shove’ my beliefs down their throats….Christ was a person , just as Christopher Columus, George Washington, Malcolm X, George Washington Carver or Martin Luther King….they are celebrated….without them employees would not have extra days off….I think that it is a slap in the face of all of us “christians”.. We spend large amounts of money in your stores to be able to enhance and support our beliefs–gift giving and family togetherness…In the marketing world,,,, it is our traditions and beliefs that spur your profits…..could it be you are cutting your nose for money off to spite something that obviviously you don’t understand…..

By barbara armstrong on Dec 12, 2005

Uh, Barb, did you even read the comments above? Was it not clear that this view — which Justin tried to defend — just got completely spanked silly above?

I mean, speaking of not understanding things.

By Kim P on Dec 12, 2005

justin im on your side. john you suck ass… calling conservatives like bill o’reilly “stupid”, only shows your own ignorance… way to go

By anthony on Dec 13, 2005

Ah, Anthony defends the sacredness of the Baby Jesus’ birthay with the traditional “you suck ass”. Jesus would be so proud. I hear those were his actual last words from the cross, but they were edited out in post-production.

And stop lying: I didn’t actually “call conservatives like bill o’reilly “stupid”; I offered a dilemma: “Are conservative Limbaugh-O’Reilly droids like you REALLY that stupid, or are you just acting that way to piss people off?” If you use that to go on to infer that Publickin’ droids are stupid, then that’s your business.

By John on Dec 13, 2005

Im from England UK, and we have been banned in areas of London to decorate our streets and houses with christmas lights. We havbe to refer to them as winter lights, abnd in one town they even have to call them celebrity lights, as a celebrity turns them on.

We are worried about upsetting the muslim community by pushing christmas in their faces by age old tradition of lighting the streets. It was not complained about back in 1980, so why should it be today.

Together with this, immigration overload, and lazy arsed british people who cant be bothered to go and work, I for one have had enough, I have paid taxes since i was 13 years old, and i pay on average 2500GBP thats nearly 5000 dollars a year. Ive had enough My house is up for sale and i am moving to spain, because the hypocracy and the sheer bloody rudeness of all of this and rising taxes. The UK is a sinking ship, and this December has marked to first signal “abandon ship”

I have nothing against immigrants, but just the general people of britain who can not be arsed to go and work, and want to live free of everybody else. ENOUGH is ENOUGH, ban Christmas if you like, take away the last joy that we have left, give us a tax for displaying our “winter lights” outside our front door. Bring in the imposed patio tax you are thinking of charging for people who have patios.

I will not be around when Britain crumbles, I will be sat on a beach, sipping a pina colada on my day off from w.o.r.k. that 4 letter word that 50 percenty of the UK have never come accross.

J

By jack goulding on Dec 13, 2005

John, if i wanted to defend Jesus, i would have defended Jesus and believe me i could, but with your sarcasm and fun making in your last statement, i seem to think that you could give a shit less about Jesus and whether he was defended. So i think i’ll save my breath. i just didn’t understand why you brought politics into this, it wasn’t needed and not what this is about, or did i miss the memo stating that our government is the cause for all these Christmas bans… It is about Jesus and dumbasses trying to say Christmas is offensive. You just got upset because someone conservative was arguing with, so you in your immaturity decided to call him and other conservatives “stupid”, but you did back it up with something to prove that statement.. oh wait no you didn’t… so are conservatives really that stupid or are you? That’s really quite humorous, a conservative said some things that you disagree with and make you upset, so you’re like yea..well you’re stupid. You guys’ conversation wasn’t even about politics or political parties, why did you start bitchin’ at conservatives, real cool john, real cool.. Oh and please forgive me, Great and Almighty john, for saying you called Bill O’Reilly stupid. You asked a rhetorical question that infers you think conservatives are stupid, so you called O’Reilly along with all other conservatives stupid, my mistake. And how about you be a mature man, and use a word like, i don’t know uhh, people, instead of droids, i mean what the hell is that… im reminded of, Luke, I am your father, i mean wtf!!! You’re crackin me up john, you really are….

By anthony on Dec 14, 2005

Look, the guy who introduced “you suck ass” as a response to an argument is complaining about immaturity. Cool.

By Big Stickman on Dec 15, 2005

I’m glad you liked the “droids” reference, Andrew. I also felt it was a mildly humorous way to imply the mindless following of right-wing rhetoricians from the Evil Empire News Corporation stable.

By John on Dec 15, 2005

“I could defend Jesus if I wanted! I just don’t want to! Yes I could! I could too!”

Speaking of cracking people up.

By Mr.Godfree on Dec 15, 2005

It’s all about right-wing politics, Andrew. Wake up and smell the fascism.

The “war on Christmas” is a Big Lie, perpetrated by right-wing demagogues, aimed at generating anger against those that don’t go along with the right-wing quasi-theocratic agenda and solidarity among those who do.

And you are their pawn. You are, to use your own words, “sucking their asses”.

By d06B0n3 on Dec 15, 2005

Glad thats all you could respond with john, you’re really proving something. Ok Mr. Godfree, what do you want me to defend? I just wasn’t going to say a damn thing to john, who made fun of him and didn’t really act like he gave a shit… There is no point in that, get it…

Oh, i also hope you all feel like dumbasses… Noboby named Andrew has written any responses.. Wow, how bright you all are is really starting to show!

By anthony on Dec 15, 2005

Thanks for the offer, Anthony, but I think I’ve heard enough. I was just enjoying the humor in it.

By Mr. Godfree on Dec 16, 2005

Gosh, my apologies for getting your name wrong. And don’t blame d06B0n3; I’m sure s/he must have just been misled by my mistake.

My mamma always taught me that if you make a mistake, or are rude to someone, you should admit you’re wrong and apologize. Wasn’t that good advice?

By John on Dec 16, 2005

pwnd!

By D06B0n3 on Dec 16, 2005

Accepted. Yea its great advice, glad you learned something when you weren’t being taught about Jesus and how important he is, and how he should be RESPECTED.

And from everything else you have written, it also looks like someone taught you that you were still cool if you were something other than Republican. What were they thinking??

By anthony on Dec 16, 2005

Mmmm. you shoulda quit while you were, mm, less far behind. I gotta go with d06B0n3.

By Kim P on Dec 16, 2005