Editor's
Note: Looks a war brewing between Wal-Mart and the Christian Crazies...
Maybe there is a Santa.
Holiday
Blues continue for Wal-Mart
by Joe Kovacs on 10 November 2005 at www.WorldNetDaily.com
Wal-Mart officials
are standing by their policy of encouraging employees to use the "Happy
Holidays" greeting rather than "Merry Christmas," but
says the worker responsible for an e-mail describing the pagan origins
of Christmas no longer works for the company.
"Wal-Mart is proud to welcome customers of all faiths, and celebrants
of all holidays," Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman said in a bulk
response e-mail to WorldNetDaily's (WND) original story. "We
sincerely apologize to any person or organization that was offended
by the inappropriate and inflammatory comments made by this former
associate."
As WND reported,
Wal-Mart is facing a national boycott organized by the Catholic League
for Religious and Civil Rights which says the merchandising giant
is discriminating against Christians while promoting other seasonal
holidays by name, such as Kwanzaa and Hanukkah. Catholic League president
Bill Donohue
"I've been doing nothing but interviews on talk radio (with more
scheduled) and everyone is citing your article," Catholic League
president Bill Donohue told WND. "Conservatives are fired up
because they feel betrayed. Look for us to win." [Editor's note:
If you have ever seen Bill Donohue on Fox TV you know this man is
certifiably insane].
The controversy was sparked when a woman recently complained to Wal-Mart
that the store was replacing its "Merry Christmas" greeting
with "Happy Holidays."
The League says the woman received an e-mail response from a customer-service
representative named Kirby, reading exactly as follows:
Walmart is a world wide organization and must remain conscious
of this. The majority of the world still has different practices other
than "christmas" which is an ancient tradition that has
its roots in Siberian shamanism. The colors associated with "christmas"
red and white are actually a representation of the aminita mascera
mushroom. Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses, mistletoe from
the Celts, yule log from the Goths, the time from the Visigoth and
the tree from the worship of Baal. It is a wide wide world.
Fogleman confirmed the original note was written by a Wal-Mart representative,
and explained today:
"We
at Wal-Mart believe this e-mail between a temporary associate and
one of our valued customers was entirely inappropriate. Its contents
in no way represent the policies, practices or views of our company.
This associate, who was hired less than three weeks ago, is no longer
employed by our company."
The Associated Press has since picked up on the story tonight, more
than 19 hours after first broken by WND.
Fogleman says the original email from Kirby was taken out of context,
and Wal-Mart's use of the "Happy Holidays" theme was to
be inclusive of celebrations from Thanksgiving to Hanukkah, Kwanzaa
and New Year's Eve in addition to Christmas.
Last night, Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jolanda Stewart told WND her company
was "absolutely not" banning Christmas as the Catholic League
has been claiming.
To demonstrate an instance of discrimination, Donohue points out,
and WND confirmed, that when using the company's online search engine,
if the word "Hanukkah" is entered, 200 items for sale are
returned. The term "Kwanzaa" yields 77. But when "Christmas"
is entered, the message returned says: "We've brought you to
our 'Holiday' page based on your search."WND screen capture of
Wal-Mart website shows when 'Christmas' is entered in search engine,
results are deferred to a 'Holiday' page...
However, the search also brings up a secondary link on which to click,
which reveals 7,970 items that match the "Christmas" term.
When WND entered the name "Jesus," 5,668 items were displayed.
The complaint is that only Christmas, and no other religion's holiday,
brings up the special holiday page.
"We already serve a diverse customer base, and we're just trying
to help them to celebrate their individual needs and wants,"
Stewart said.
"Stewart's remark is flatulent," Donohue says. "If
Wal-Mart had a 'Holiday' section on its website that directed customers
to its Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa sites, that would not be objectionable."
"Today, I e-mailed Dan Fogleman," Donohue continued, "letting
him know the following: 'Now that Wal-Mart is standing by its position,
I hope you're ready for our next move. Don't forget, we have the next
six weeks to pull out all the stops, and we will.'"
As WorldNetDaily has previously reported, the celebration of Christmas
is a major cultural battleground in the U.S., dating back to colonial
America when Christians in New England outlawed Christmas, saying
it was based more on ancient pagan traditions than instruction from
the Bible.
Today, followers of ancient paganism strive to remind the public about
the heathen origins of traditions that many may never have questioned.Wiccan
high priestess Selena Fox
CircleSanctuary.org
is among the Internet addresses run by nature-worshipping pagans.
Wiccan high priestess Selena Fox discusses the state of being pagan
and celebrating the lengthening of days during the Northern Hemisphere's
darkest time of year.
"Yule, the winter solstice, is a festival of peace and a celebration
of waxing solar light. I honor the new sun child by burning a[n] oaken
yule log in a sacred fire. I honor the great goddess in her many great
mother aspects, and the father god as Santa in his old sky god, father
time, and holly king forms. I decorate my home with lights and with
holly, ivy, mistletoe, evergreens and other herbs sacred to this season.
I ring in the new solar year with bells."
Fox even provides a list of suggestions on how 21st century citizens
can take part in the ancient rituals, to "re-paganize" Christmastime:
• Have gift exchanges and feasts over the course of several
days and nights as was done of old
• Adorn the home with sacred herbs and colors; decorate in druidic
holiday colors of red, green and white
• Hang a sprig of mistletoe above a major threshold and leave
it there until next yule as a charm for good luck throughout the year
• Have family/household members join together to make or purchase
an evergreen wreath
• If you choose to have a living or a harvested evergreen tree
as part of your holiday decorations, call it a solstice tree and decorate
it with pagan symbols
• Reclaim Santa Claus as a pagan godform by decorating him with
images that reflect his various heritages ranging from the Greek god
Cronos (father time) to Odin, the Scandinavian all-father riding the
sky on an eight-legged horse
• Place pagan mother-goddess images around your home, possibly
including one with a sun child, such as Isis with Horus
• Honor the new solar year with light – light candles,
burn a yule log and save a portion for the following year, put colored
lights outside your home, and with the popularity of five-pointed
stars, consider displaying a blue or white pentagram.
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