War on Christmas piffle

The American Family Association is calling for a boycott of The Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy because they don’t like these companies’ holiday ads — AFA insists that these companies must use the word “Christmas” in their holiday ads.

I’ll be making a special effort to spend money at these stores this season as a result of the AFA’s action.

To the executives of The Gap, Banana Republic, and Old Navy: Being boycotted by the religious right wingnuts at the AFA is a badge of honor.

And to all the “War on Christmas” idiots, remember:

• This is a diverse country and a diverse world: Not everyone celebrates Christmas.
• We have freedom of religion in this country; the fact that a majority of Americans celebrate Christmas is irrelevant.
• Among those who do celebrate Christmas, many do not do so as a religious celebration of Christ’s birth based on “literal” readings of the conflicting accounts of his birth in the Bible, but instead as a celebration of the spirit of giving.
• No one gets to impose their definition of a “proper” Christmas celebration, greeting or advertisement on anyone else.
• How the heck do people complain that Christmas is too commercial and that the “real meaning” is lost as a result on the one hand, and then get their knickers in a knot because holiday ads from retailers don’t meet their arbitrary standards of “Christian” enough? The levels of chutzpah, hypocrisy and tolerance of cognitive dissonance required to do this stun me.