Season's Greetings...The Joy and the Spirit of Christ...

I am always amazed at where I end up on these weekend mornings.  I get to "see the world" without ever leaving my favorite spot on the sofa as I watch the night turn to day through the sliding glass door that leads to the back deck. Weekend mornings...love 'em.  At least the weekend mornings that do not require me to be out and about.  I  always get up before the crack of dawn...what annie has referred to as "o' dark thirty"...but it is being "up" and not being "out" (as in out and about) that is my joy on these weekend mornings.  During the week, my world travels (as in World Wide Web)  are cut short because of work.  But on the weekends, the house is usually very quiet in the mornings and I can click away to my heart's content. 

So anyway...I can't really remember where I even started clicking this morning but I ended up on a site called The American Family Association.  If you are familiar with the site...and have read much of anything on this blog you will not be expecting a link to appear in my sidebar any time soon.  Highly unlikely.  

For eight or so years they were part of the Disney Boycott...initiated by the Catholic League, joined shortly thereafter by Southern Baptists and Assemblies of God...and supported by organizations such as the AFA and Focus on the Family etc. etc. etc. The gist of their complaints were the various anti Christian themes in many of Disney's movies. And...because Disney provided equal benefits (including insurance benefits) for their gay employees. AND.... because they permitted Gay Days to be held at Disney theme parks.  Disney actually experienced record financial growth during the boycott....so the goal to affect Disney's bottom line was pretty much a wasted effort. 

Which brings me...in a round about way....(what, you expected succinct?!!) to the subject of today's post. The AFA (and other organizations like it) are still attempting to affect the bottom lines of companies deemed un or anti Christian. With the holidays upon us...hey...opportunities abound to single out companies that do not promote the standard Christian partly line view of Christmas!!  

The AFA has dedicated a section of their web site to alert Christian consumers which retailers are for and which ones are  against Christmas.  They even provide a color coded list of retailers so...at a glance...Christians can determine where to spend their Christmas dollars.

Color Code:

Company uses the term "Christmas" on a regular basis, we consider that company Christmas-friendly.

Company refers to Christmas infrequently, or in a single advertising medium, but not in others.

Company may use "Christmas" sparingly in a single or unique product description, but as a company, does not recognize it.

There were many comments in response to this list....mostly positive because, I suppose, most of the people who frequent the AFA site are evangelical Christians who want to divert their cash flow to "green stores" and are happy to have a definitive list as a guide.  A snippet from one of the comments caught my eye...

Merry Christmas And Happy New Year to EVERYONE who believes in the joy and the Spirit of Christ!.

Which birthed some questions...

What does this commenter wish for those who don't believe in the joy and Spirit of Christ?

And more importantly...WHAT exactly IS the joy and spirit of Christ and is it experienced only by those who conform to a traditional Christmas celebration?

And as far as that goes...what is a traditional Christmas celebration?

More to come......