“christmas,” not “holidays”

This morning I heard that Gap, Inc. is once again avoiding using the word “Christmas” in their stores/advertising/etc., opting instead for “Holidays.”

Normally this announcement probably wouldn’t have even registered as a blip on my radar, but unfortunately I heard about it from this article, which insists on labeling Gap as fostering a type of “christian censorship,” intent on somehow offending christians by insulting one of their most holy days.

Now, the irony abounds in an article like this, from an organization like this. The American Familiy Association, or AFA, is an organization that says it doesn’t support censorship but applauds responsibility. Unfortunately that’s only the case if the responsibility being expended coincides with their definition of it. If you think that using the word “Holiday” in your advertising is the responsible thing to do, as the word “Christmas” is fairly and truly associated with the christian faith and therefore may offend those of other faiths, well, I’m sorry — that’s not the kind of responsibility we’re talking about.

I don’t want to make too many generalizations, but if I may vent for a moment, this is the brand of rhetoric I see spewed from so-called “patriotic christian” persons far too often. We espouse an ideology of responsibility and connect it with an American ideal, when the truth of the matter is that the First Amendment in the Constitution (Freedom of Speech, etc.) doesn’t exist to protect the village voice; it protects the dissenting voice, the minority. It is wholeheartedly, unequivocally American to be considerate and responsible towards people of other faiths, opinions, lifestyles, etc., which is, as I see it, exactly what Gap, Inc. is trying to do.

The AFA’s Philosophical Statement clearly states that they want to achieve the “well-being of our country, in accordance with the vision of our founding fathers,” but I’m not sure it’s fair to put what they’re doing in that category. Of course it is within their rights as a private organization to stand for whatever they like (and they should do so, as they do, without apology!), but to lay claim to the definition of what responsibility means, or to warp the Founding Father’s intent for a land of free speech into an intolerant “you must think as I do” environment is certainly out of bounds.

I may have even let this go, normally; I don’t think I’m overly prone to rants about things — at least not as much as I used to be. But on my visit to the AFA’s page, I noticed that they’re also supporting boycotts of Ford Motor Company, because they are allegedly “supporting homosexual groups which are pushing homosexual marriage.”

Seriously?!?

Have these some 700,000+ people who have agreed to not buy anything (from one of the most American companies on the planet) ever met someone who works at Ford, like my wife’s father does? Have they ever been to Detroit and stared into the eyes of some of the tens of thousands of people who will lose their homes and their livelihoods because of the horrendous economic disaster that is happening there, due largely in part to the downturn of the auto industry that Detroit is built on?

No, I’m sure it’s much more important that we stop the gays. That’s probably more “American,” too.