December 11, 2008

Forget the Six-Day War — how about the Six-Second War…on Christmas? That’s about how long it took Amazon.com to reconsider its ill-advised decision to change a “12 Days of Christmas” sale to a “12 Days of Holiday” sale. Someone at the on-line retailing giant must have thought “Christmas” would prove a turnoff for customers who don’t observe the holiday. After bloggers howled, it was back to “12 Days of Christmas.”

As a newspaper serving the non-Yuletide cohort, let us go on record in defense of Christmas — or at least in defense of retailers, shop clerks, and even cable talk-show hosts wishing a Merry Christmas to all. The “War on Christmas” was a chimera cooked up by pundits with a little too much time on their hands and bile in their livers. The Jewish community, for one, has never tried to suppress the word Christmas in the marketplace.

What we have asked for, however, is a little sensitivity to us and other minorities. We understand why members of the majority would want to share the joy of their holiday. We tend to object, however, when public holiday displays appear coercive, exclusive, or unconstitutional, or when schools confuse cultural awareness with religious indoctrination. That’s not a War on Christmas — that’s a defense of the American way.

It’s the rare Jew, however, who would object to Amazon’s “12 Days of Christmas” — it’s a non-offensive way to reach shoppers who, after all, make up the vast majority of their customer base come December. But we also appreciate it when retailers find ways to acknowledge that not all of us celebrate Christmas. It’s neighborly, it’s good business, and it can usually be accomplished without all the military metaphors.

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