You want more political correctness you say?

ninty · **You want more political correctness you say? -** 12-11-2002, 01:11 PM

[quote:9f456]Don't call Christmas Christmas: Gap

Bruce Ward
The Ottawa Citizen

Wednesday, December 11, 2002
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It's just one more sign that a Merry Christmas is turning into a happy holiday.

Gap Inc., the global clothing retailer with annual sales of nearly $14 billion from its Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy stores, is encouraging its workers to wish customers "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas."

Jane Shaw, a spokeswoman for Gap stores in Canada, said the company encourages its employees to be inclusive and sensitive in dealing with customers at this time of year.

"It's not a written policy, and I think the important thing to note is we simply suggest and encourage our sales associates and all our employees to recognize that not everyone celebrates Christmas," she said.

"So being sensitive to that, wishing people a happy holiday season, or happy holidays, is more inclusive."

Leigh Bridger, a teacher at Hillcrest High School, is concerned that overly sensitive merchants are smothering the spirit of Christmas -- and the true meaning of tolerance.

Some students who work part-time at the Gap told her about the policy.

"I think tolerance is a two-way street. If the policy was like, 'Use sensitivity, guys,' that's fine."

Ms. Bridger added, "If there's someone who's obviously Muslim -- and there's certain indicators in terms of dress for women -- you're not necessarily going to say Merry Christmas. But if somebody comes with a list and they say they're buying Christmas gifts, why shouldn't that student be allowed to say, 'Well, have a Merry Christmas?' " she said.

"I don't see how avoiding or not saying Merry Christmas is going to take anything away from another culture, or another religion. If you choose to live in this country, and you accept that the majority of Canadians celebrate Christian holidays -- we even have Christmas lights on Parliament Hill -- then you accept that."

Are retailers being Grinches or smart marketers? If political correctness wipes out "Merry Christmas," the argument goes, soon malls will be blaring songs such as "I'm dreaming of a white Season's Greetings" and "It's beginning to look a lot like Happy Holidays."

Just two weeks ago, the Royal Canadian Mint stood firm in its decision to replace the word "Christmas" with "giving" in a television jingle based on the song The Twelve Days of Christmas.

At the same time, Toronto council passed a unanimous resolution officially renaming Toronto City Hall's fir tree a Christmas tree after city staff referred to it as a "holiday tree."

Mayor Mel Lastman, who is Jewish, described the "holiday tree" name as political correctness gone too far.

Many nominal Christians would argue that "Merry Christmas" is not solely a religious greeting, just because it contains "Christ." More significantly, they say, it contains Christ's message of peace and goodwill and, implicitly, his exhortation to love one another.

Though Mrs. Bridger is not Jewish, people often assume she is because her husband's first name is Ira.

"People are constantly saying Happy Hanukkah to me. I'm not offended."

But in his book Please Don't Wish Me A Merry Christmas, law professor Stephen M. Feldman argues that Christians, as the dominant religious group in North America, subvert the constitutional principle of the separation of church and state.

Mr. Feldman says he wrote the book in part because of "a growing sense of alienation as an American Jew" particularly living in Oklahoma over the past decade.

The title comes from the last line of the book.

"I had settled on this phrase as an apt concluding line when I first started working on the manuscript. It captures how I often feel during the Holiday season (which Holiday is that?) after I had been wished a Merry Christmas for the 500th time (and it's still November!)."

Editorial: Denying heritage is going too far, page B4

© Copyright 2002 The Ottawa Citizen[/quote:9f456]