Walmart Boycott Ends With Apology

Kollyvas · Post by **Kollyvas** » Fri 11 November 2005 10:07 pm

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=47358

HOLIDAY BLUES
Wal-Mart boycott
ends with apology
Catholic League says retail giant
has satisfied Christmas demands

Posted: November 11, 2005
10:07 a.m. Eastern

After a series of reports by WorldNetDaily, Wal-Mart officials have satisfied demands by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, which had called for a national boycott after accusing the retail giant of discriminating against Christmas while promoting other seasonal holidays by name, such as Kwanzaa and Hanukkah.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue said Wal-Mart has apologized, withdrawn "its insane statement" on the origins of Christmas and revised its website.

"This is a sweet victory for the Catholic League, Christians in general, and people of all faiths," Donohue said. "And it means that Wal-Mart can now enter the Christmas season without this cloud hanging over it."

Donohue said a customer service employee named Kirby who touched off the controversy with an e-mail about the origins of Christmas has been fired.

Wal-Mart spokesman Dan Fogleman released a statement last night saying, "We sincerely apologize to any person or organization that was offended by the inappropriate and inflammatory comments made by this former associate."

Donohue said Wal-Mart also has adjusted its website so that when a customer types "Christmas" in its search engine, he no longer gets, "We've brought you to our Holiday page based on your search." Now the customer is taken directly to a site named "Christmas."

Wal-Mart says it will not change its policy of encouraging employees to say "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas," Donohue noted.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue

"This is dumb, but it was never part of the Catholic League's complaint," he said. "We only trigger boycotts when we've been grossly offended."

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 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 yesterday:

"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 picked up on the story, more than 19 hours after first broken by WND.

Fogleman says the original e-mail 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.

On Wednesday, Wal-Mart spokeswoman Jolanda Stewart told WND her company was "absolutely not" banning Christmas as the Catholic League had been claiming.

To demonstrate an instance of discrimination, Donohue pointed out, and WND confirmed, that when using the company's online search engine, if the word "Hanukkah" was entered, 200 items for sale were returned. The term "Kwanzaa" yielded 77. But when "Christmas" was entered, the message returned said: "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 brought up a secondary link on which to click, which revealed 7,970 items that matched the "Christmas" term.

When WND entered the name "Jesus," 5,668 items were displayed.

The complaint was that only Christmas, and no other religion's holiday, brought 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 said. "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."

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.
Related offers:

Visit WND's Christmas Store (not 'Holiday' store)

THE NEW PAGANISM: How Christianity is being replaced by 'green' religion, goddess worship, globalism

Biblical Roots of Man charts: Must-have for the serious Bible student

Kollyvas · Post by **Kollyvas** » Fri 11 November 2005 10:09 pm

http://www.breitbart.com/news/2005/11/11/D8DQFCFO0.html

Catholic League Calls Off Wal-Mart Boycott
Nov 11 2:50 PM US/Eastern
Email this story

By KELLY P. KISSEL
Associated Press Writer

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.

A Roman Catholic civil rights group called off a boycott of Wal-Mart on Friday after the world's largest retailer apologized for an employee's e-mail that called Christmas a mix of world religions.

"This is a sweet victory for the Catholic League, Christians in general, and people of all faiths," said Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, said in a statement on the group's Web site.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said Thursday that a customer-service employee named Kirby had written an inappropriate e-mail to a woman who complained that the retailer had replaced a "Merry Christmas" greeting with "Happy Holidays." It also said Kirby no longer worked for Wal- Mart.

Kirby wrote that Christmas resulted from traditions ranging from Siberian shamanism to Visigoth calendars.

"Santa is also borrowed from the Caucuses (sic), 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," Kirby wrote. ...

Kollyvas · Post by **Kollyvas** » Fri 11 November 2005 10:10 pm

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/letters.asp

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2005

Employee's perspective

I work for Wal-Mart and can promise you that Wal-Mart does not discriminate against Christmas. What these people are saying is only in their self-interest.

I urge you to check all the facts first before anybody boycotts Wal-Mart. It just makes good business sense to go after customers who do not celebrate Christmas ...

Tim Jacobson

Ba! Humbug!

I have nothing against celebrating Christmas, but for those who don't, "Happy Holidays" is much nicer to the hear ...

Good for Wal-Mart. Once again, they have my business. Since I haven't shopped there for years, I will now.

Lisa

Communist China's store

It little matters to me what religion or holiday they are trying to make money from – 99 percent of the goods this Good Ol' American company sells are made in Communist China.

Stevan Arnold

No respect

Once again we see Americans being taken advantage of. It was our money that made Wal-Mart what it is. But Wal-Mart has no respect for us. I think the boycott is a good deal for Wal-Mart – they sure think more of the heathens than they do their own kind.

Lawrence McLeroy

Christian country

As a Jew, I am extremely offended by the attacks on God and Christianity in this country. I love when people wish me a Merry Christmas. In fact, Christmas is my favorite time of the year with all the lights and people wishing others well.

It is despicable what the liberals are doing to this country. This is a Christian country and that is what has made us great ...

God bless you, and Merry Christmas!

Sabi Israel

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2005

Thumb-sucking pinheads

Joe Wilson is just a publicity hound with an ax to grind because he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. It should be easy enough to find out from Fox News if the pair [Wilson and Maj. General Paul Vallely] were in the Green Room together ... and when. If they were, let us know.

The public has a right to have nepotism exposed for us all to see. It serves as a useful example to others. Some folks accomplish the significant. Others prefer being thumb-sucking pinheads. Joe's washed up, and dislikes being outside the inner circle. Serves him right.

Clarke Echols

Why go further?

I know that much has been made of the investigating prosecutor's acumen and neutrality. I am a retired attorney. I am somewhat familiar with the statute which makes unauthorized disclosure of an undercover CIA agent a crime.

Since all of the elements of the statute must be satisfied before there is a crime, and since one of the elements was that the agent must have been undercover within the preceding five years, and since it is, and at all times was, uncontroverted that Valerie Plame had not been undercover for more than five years and, therefore, did not meet the definition under the statute, why did Fitzgerald not terminate his investigation immediately upon his discovery that there had been no crime? Why go further?

Perhaps this bears investigation or at least journalistic comment.

Mark S. Roth

Was he given permission?

One thing I have never seen addressed in this whole Wilson-Plame affair is the actions of Joe Wilson. I would assume that if he were sent to Africa under the auspices of the CIA – and at the expense of same – all the product of his inquiry would be the property of the CIA and probably classified.

Unless he was given permission by the CIA to release his findings publicly, then isn't he guilty of mishandling classified material by his article in the New York Times? If this is true, why hasn't he been charged with a crime, and if the CIA give him permission to blab to the Times, shouldn't the CIA be held accountable for mishandling classified information?

Also, why are the Democrats so upset about Libby's perjury when Clinton's was fine with them? I wish I could sit on the jury that tries Libby. Talk about jury nullification! I would see he never would see the inside of a prison until Sandy Berger was there to be his roommate.

Jim Walker

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2005

Frankenstinians

I liked [Joseph Farah's] article comparing the situation in Paris to what has been going on in Israel with the land grabs, etc. Should the French give away their land, the ceded territory could be appropriately called Frankenstein with all that it implies.

Malka

Farah's an idiot?

You are an idiot! France has done nothing but bend over backward and allow Muslims to exploit their "liberal" government.

The real solution is oust all Muslims because, let's face it, they cannot get along with anyone. You are an idiot!

Justin Hayes

Big difference

One big difference between France and the United States is that U.S. citizens own millions of guns. Any ethnic rioters who try to torch a neighborhood ... will have to do so in a hail of bullets.

Look what happened in New Orleans, for example, where citizens drove off looters with gunfire.

Kevin James

Deport them!

Have you noticed that Muslim terrorists aren't torching Great Britain? Let President Chirac announce he's going to arrest and deport the offenders in his country, as Prime Minister Blair did, and see how soon all of this stops.

Mary Lou Barry

TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 8, 2005

Send them home

It is surprising the Muslims of the United States aren't torching cities. How is it that we don't learn that appeasement equals weakness, that those trashing and burning the very instruments needed for the relief they scream for are only a ruse to allow them to continue to trash and burn, and that the only solution is to return them to their own countries?

It's getting so I'd like to include in that plane load a number of others who qualify – such as some university professors, politicians and a few others who want to rewrite the Constitution, use international law in governing our country, etc.

As Dorothy told Toto, "This isn't Kansas anymore" – and this sure isn't looking like the good old USA I went to war in Vietnam for either!

Dave Fouser

One-way street?

OK ... I think I finally got it ... let's see now if I really understand.

They can cut off our heads on television. They can torture, rape and mutilate any of our people who they capture. They can indiscriminately blow up anyone they want to. They can burn our Bibles and proclaim every Christian and Jew in the world is their enemy. And they can vow to never stop trying to kill all of us until we are totally eradicated from existence.

But we are not allowed to smack 'em when they misbehave or to pee on their precious Quran.

Yep ... now I think I got it. Boy, was I ever dumb.

George Horvat

Severe solution

France has invited the Muslim problem onto its homeland. The riots – or, more accurately, insurgency – in France will spread to all European countries. The solution is a severe one: martial law and internment camps, followed by repatriation in Africa and the Middle East.

I suspect, however, that Europe does not have the military muscle to do this and fears reprisal by oil-rich Muslim dominated countries. What will Europe do? Appease to buy time in hopes that some miraculous political answer will appear, or to buy time to build the necessary military muscle.

Bob Warren

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2005

Will France surrender?

France is getting what it deserves. I don't feel sorry for them. I don't pity them. I don't sympathize with them. I only offer advice.

Use your useless military to fly over cities at night in helicopters. With night vision, pick out the rioters and shoot them. Also, shoot anyone wearing a hood. Oh yes, most importantly, let them know you are painting your bullets with pig's blood.

The French will not do that. Rather, what they will probably do is appease, appease, appease. Then, finally, do what the French do so well ... surrender.

Richard Logan

Get it over with

I would suggest the president of France call on the French Army to put down the riots. Then on the third day, they could surrender, the Muslims could declare victory and everyone could again go home in peace.

Jim Quick

Eliminate murderers

Everywhere in the world, Muslims are creating chaos while murdering thousands. It's time those fanatical elements of this cult be eliminated from our midst. The Paris riots would be a good place to start.

French police and military should simply start killing these undesirable, ignorant, fanatical, murderous jihadists. Maybe then the rest of the world will follow their example when it's necessary.

Fred Taylor

Appeasement never works

I thought the French not participating in the Iraq war would protect them from radical Islam. Gee, I wonder when they will ever figure out that appeasement of evil never ever works?

R.B. Cox

The Saint Euphrosynos Cafe