"Target Getting the Message - Stock Drops 7%"

[Lounge Daddy]

[font="Courier"]Target Getting the Message - Stock Drops 7%

"There is an anti-Christian bias in this country, and it is more on display at Christmas season than any other time." - Bill O'Reilly, The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News Channel - (Speaking about the decision of Target and other stores to ban the use of "Merry Christmas" in their stores and advertising.)

On October 7 we brought to your attention that Target was banning the Salvation Army's kettles from the front of their stores. Now we've learned Target is also banning the use of "Merry Christmas" from their in-store promotions and from their advertising in papers, TV, etc.

Your efforts are having an impact. USA Today (11/16/05) announced that "Target alarmed investors by saying projected sales at stores open a year in November would miss the estimated 4% to 6% growth. Shares of Target fell $4.13 to $54.30." (A 7% drop.)

Target's ban of the Salvation Army and "Merry Christmas" expresses the same attitude toward Christianity as that held by Michael Newdow, who wants to ban "In God We Trust" from our currency and "under God" from our Pledge of Allegiance.

AFA is asking individuals to boycott Target during the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend-the busiest shopping weekend of the year. Please share this request to boycott Target on that weekend with friends, family and members of your church and Sunday school class.

Please sign the petition to Target. This petition will also be sent to other major chains banning the use of "Merry Christmas" including Costco, BJ's, Wal-Mart, Sears/K-Mart and Kohl's. It is basically too late to change their policies this year, but we can change it for next year. Last year we called for a boycott of Federated Stores because they banned "Merry Christmas." This year they are using "Merry Christmas!"

A successful boycott of Target will send a message to every company!

This is your opportunity to make your voice heard. Please act today and then forward this to friends and family.

Click below to Sign the Petition To Target and Other Stores Now!

[url="http://www.afa.net/petitions/SignPetition.asp?id=1470&sid=19349472"] CLICK [/url]


Sincerely,
Don

Donald E. Wildmon, Founder and Chairman
American Family Association[/font]

[Lounge Daddy]

i got the above e-mail, and thought i would share

[quote]...other major chains banning the use of "Merry Christmas" including Costco, BJ's, Wal-Mart, Sears/K-Mart and Kohl's. It is basically too late to change their policies this year...[/quote]

wal-mart changed thier policy within a few days
i dont understand why target would drag thier feet

then again, target also banned the salvation army this year and last year also... they are really shooting themselves in the foot, me thinks

[1337 k4th0l1x0r]

[quote name='Lounge Daddy' date='Nov 23 2005, 01:30 AM']i got the above e-mail, and thought i would share 
wal-mart changed thier policy within a few days
i dont understand why target would drag thier feet

then again, target also banned the salvation army this year and last year also... they are really shooting themselves in the foot, me thinks
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Walmart didn't change their greeting policy. They only changed removed their website redirection and retracted their opinion on the origin of Christmas. They still have an official policy of saying "Happy Holidays".

[1337 k4th0l1x0r]

I'll add this too. The ban isn't some kind of discrimination against the Salvation Army being a religious group. They have an across the board policy banning solicitation in front of their stores. Target has come out and said the Salvation Army hasn't come up with some other scheme for collecting money or applied for any of Target's corporate giving grants.

[Carrie]

I don't see a problem with saying Happy Holidays. We have to remember that we're not the only group celebrating religious holidays this time of year. There's also Hannukah, Kwanzaa, etc. Besides, when a store says "Merry Christmas" do you really think they are respecting the religious aspect of it? No, they are only trying to commercialize the holiday.

[Jaime]

Target is listed as one of the most philanthropic corporations every year.

[homeschoolmom]

and where does all that money go?

[Jaime]

[quote name='homeschoolmom' date='Nov 23 2005, 09:22 AM']and where does all that money go?
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I think Amy Grant

[homeschoolmom]

[quote name='hot stuff' date='Nov 23 2005, 09:25 AM']I think Amy Grant
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That must be how she grants three wishes every week...

[Paladin D]

I have mixed feelings. It is true that some are trying to ban Christ from Christmas (one way is to ban "Merry Christmas"), but "Happy Holidays" respects ALL the religious holidays that take place this time of year. So I can understand how a department store will use "Happy Holidays".

I say use both interchangeably.

[Paladin D]

Double post.

Edited November 23, 2005 by Paladin D

[philothea]

I don't much like the local Target anyway, because the manager is obviously an idiot. But not having a guy with a loud bell in front of the store would only be an attraction in my view...

[argent_paladin]

I disagree, respectfully. Yes, there are other holidays out there but they pale in comparison to Christmas. Hannuka is a very minor Jewish holiday, its importance magnified only because it is near Christmas (Passover, Yom Kippur, RoshHaShana are far more important). Ramadan floats through the year and was over a month ago. Kwanzaa is an artificial holiday, celebrated by almost no one outside of Berkeley, Detroit, DC and NY and was invented by marxist intellectuals in the late 60s.
I would have no problem with being wished a happy hanukah on hanuka or a happy ramadan in Ramadan. But at Christmas, when 97% of Americans celebrate it in one way or another, is it so wrong to wish someone a Merry Christmas? When do the imagined feelings of a minority trump the benign desires of the majority? It's not like we are saying "Hanuka smells of elderberries!" to one another. Should we also not say "Happy Thanksgiving" because native Americans aren't so happy about it? Or should we not say "Happy New Year" because Chinese, Mayans, etc have different calendars? I am not saying that I would boycott Target for this but it does annoy me.

[philothea]

Heh. My mother-in-law has taken to agressively wishing people "Merry Christmas!" with an implied "You got a problem with that?"

[littleflower+JMJ]

[quote name='argent_paladin' date='Nov 23 2005, 01:32 PM']I disagree, respectfully. Yes, there are other holidays out there but they pale in comparison to Christmas. Hannuka is a  very minor Jewish holiday, its importance magnified only because it is near Christmas (Passover, Yom Kippur, RoshHaShana are far more important). Ramadan floats through the year and was over a month ago. Kwanzaa is an artificial holiday, celebrated by almost no one outside of Berkeley, Detroit, DC and NY and was invented by marxist intellectuals in the late 60s.
I would have no problem with being wished a happy hanukah on hanuka or a happy ramadan in Ramadan. But at Christmas, when 97% of Americans celebrate it in one way or another, is it so wrong to wish someone a Merry Christmas? When do the imagined feelings of a minority trump the benign desires of the majority?  It's not like we are saying "Hanuka smells of elderberries!" to one another. Should we also not say "Happy Thanksgiving" because native Americans aren't so happy about it? Or should we not say "Happy New Year" because Chinese, Mayans, etc have different calendars? I am not saying that I would boycott Target for this but it does annoy me.
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