This Enemy of My Enemy Is Never Going to Be My Friend

You know you are drifting towards religion based facism when Wal-Mart is being attacked for being multi-cultural and marginally sensitive to diversity. If you read the full text, a Wal-Mart PR flack says "Holidays" because they put the banner up before Thanksgiving and take it down after New Years. She didn't mention Hannukah or, Deity forfend, Ramadan. [Actually, here's a great commercial idea. Ramadan begins September 24, 2006. They could put up the banners almost two months earlier next year, get lot's more mileage.]

The Dodger actually finds virtue in this campaign. It demonstrates that the 10 commandments campaign, the school prayer campaign, are really about establishment of religion. And not just any religion, but evangelical christian fundamentalism. Most of the time, religiosity plays in background.

It's also cool that the demonstrators come from the Church of the Divide.

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Wal-Mart confronted on 'happy holidays'

December 17, 2005

• By TOM CHORNEAU

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Christian activist Dick Otterstad, left, of the Church of the Divide, is met by Linda Ostrofsky, right, as he protests Wal-Mart's decision to drop the word "Christmas" from its holiday advertising campaign, Saturday, Dec. 17, 2005, in Sacramento, Calif. (AP Photo)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A group of religious protesters demonstrated outside a Wal-Mart superstore Saturday, hoping to turn away customers by calling attention to the retailer's decision to use "happy holidays" rather than "merry Christmas" in its seasonal advertising.

But even shoppers who agreed with the protesters weren't willing to interrupt their quest for holiday deals.

"I believe in Christ, and I don't like the use of 'xmas' or the use of 'happy holidays,'" said Steven Van Noy, 39, as he left the store loaded down with packages. "The bottom line is that they had what I needed at Wal-Mart, so I went to Wal-Mart to buy it."