Is Sears Suppressing Christmas?
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In my constant vigilance about Christmas under attack, I have come across something Sears is doing that raised my suspicions.
Now I must say at the start that Sears totally denies this thing I'm about to show you is any attempt to suppress or eliminate Christmas. Sears says it has Christmas trees in the stores — and they are calling them Christmas trees.
But check this out.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}This storybook/sales catalog is arriving in the mail at Sears customers' homes. It's called "The Mystery of Snowy Way" and it's designed to sell kids clothes.
It's about the start of winter, December 21 — just four days before that other big December holiday you've heard about.
"And these kids are celebrating winter and anticipating gifts which will be left under a magical tree at the end of Enchanted Lane."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The tree is called not the Christmas tree but the "wishes come true tree."
So what's going on here?
I called Sears headquarters in Chicago and spent some time talking to the public relations guy.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}He says, "Hey, "Frosty the Snowman" is arguably a Christmas story. There's no Christmas tree in it. Does that make it a story which means to suppress Christmas?"
Well, no and I don't mean to be accusatory towards Sears. I take them at their word that they have not eliminated Christmas from the stores.
But this storybook, nonetheless, bears a very suspicious air which I discovered in other stories in my book, "The War on Christmas."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Sometimes the idea is to just change the name of things. Christmas break becomes the winter break. And then, all of a sudden, Christmas is gone altogether. It wasn't there in the first place, see? It's just winter break and Christmas may or may not fall in that winter break.
It seems to me there might be a bit of that going on with the "wishes come true tree."
It's four days before Christmas. Wouldn't you expect the kids to be looking for their gifts under the Christmas tree? Yes.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}So wouldn't you think the "wishes comes true tree" is a way to supplant or suppress or eliminate the Christmas tree?
If you do think that, Sears says stop. Sears says it's just a kids story, don't get your knickers in a twist.
Check out my book "The War on Christmas" and write to me about Christmas outrages at waronchristmas@johngibson.com.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}That's My Word.
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