(254) Thu 19 Dec 96 17:07 By: Richard Smith Re: Das Uber Noel PREACHER THREATENS BOYCOTT:

(254)   Thu 19 Dec 96 17:07
By: Richard Smith
Re: Das Uber Noel

 PREACHER THREATENS BOYCOTT: MERRY ''CHRISTMAS'' -- OR ELSE!

      Is "Christmas" going to be the next litmus test of
 theopolitical correctness?

      It may become just that if Pastor Jim Hagan of Colorado
 Springs, Co. has his way.  The Assembly of God minister is
 threatening to begin organizing a boycott of merchants who
 don't openly acknowledge Christmas through store decorations
 and signage, or who wish customers a "Happy Holiday" instead
 of the more sectarian, religious message he considers
 appropriate.

      Last year, Hagan placed an ad in a local daily paper
 declaring that he was building a list of retailers who
 refused to comply.

      "There will be monitoring," Hagan has warned.  "Should
 we, who consider ourselves Christians, spend our money at
 places that feel 'Christmas' is offensive?  Aren't those
 retail stores offending us -- the majority -- by promoting
 Christmas spending but denying the origin and reason for
 Christmas... Christ?  After 2,000 years, have we still not
 found room for him at the inn?"

      Hagan warns that the Colorado boycott will mushroom into
 a nationwide movement; the preacher  told The Denver Post
 yesterday that he is currently compiling a list of offending
 merchants who do not wish holiday shoppers a "merry
 Christmas."

      But in Colorado, a state  already polarized thanks to an
 influx of giant, religious right organizations which have
 established huge operations there, Hagan's black listing is
 encountering skepticism and concern. An assistant Rabbi in
 Denver told The Post that while it is "certainly appropriate"
 for Christians to wish each other a "merry Christmas," Jews
 often offer a salutation of "happy Hanukkah."  Rabbi Sandra
 Cohen added that she would "love to see stores back off of
 sacred celebrations altogether."

      Hagan claims that many merchants have ordered their
 employees to wish the public a "happy holiday" ostensibly
 because it is what the minister described as "politically
 correct."  But a spokesperson for the Ross department store
 told The Post that company policy is for employees to wish
 everyone a "happy holiday" because the greeting "covers all
 the bases."  Other retailers expressed puzzlement about the
 entire issue, saying that they do not have a specific policy.

 Colonization, Attack

      The President of the Colorado Springs Association of
 Evangelicals declared that while he appreciated Pastor
 Hagan's concerns, "with all the culture wars to fight about,
 that (the greeting controversy) would probably be one I would
 probably be a conscientious objector to.  Rev. Stephen Todd
 described the issue as one laden with "semantic land mines."

      But Hagan's campaign may resonate with the growing
 segment of fundamentalists and evangelicals who see
 Christianity -- and religion in general -- "under attack" by
 a wider and pluralistic secular culture.

      Boycotting merchants who do not pass muster on a
 religious litmus test like a holiday greeting is really not
 much different from the "Christian yellow pages" one finds in
 many communities, or the use of a fish logo on advertising to
 signify that the merchant is Christian.  And there is Rev.
 Hagan's reference to "us -- the majority" (i.e. Christians),
 a telling remark in a wider debate about whether the United
 States is a secular nation, or one based up religious and
 specifically Christian beliefs.

 -- from AMERICAN ATHEISTS AANEWS #217 12/9/96  (Nightowl
    Edition)
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