 "Photo: Courtesy of 4to40.com")
This year, the Muslim holiday of Eid El-Adha fell on the same weekend as Black Friday, the famous shopping spree tradition. Best Buy, one of the retailers participating in the event, posted a season’s greeting on one of their flyers: a little circle with “Happy Eid El-Adha” above the giant “Thanksgiving” greeting.
It was a gentle nod toward a minority group whose holiday happened to fall on the same day. It was a great gesture toward inclusiveness. No one could possibly spin glad tidings and season greetings into a negative thing, right?
Think again.
The noble gesture has caused quite an inappropriate uproar. Conservative groups like the American Family Association quickly proclaimed that this is nothing less than a war on Christmas, attacking Best Buy directly on their use of “Happy Eid” when they so adamantly refuse to even mention “Merry Christmas” on their official flyers. Never mind that that’s actually not even true, as Best Buy does use the words “Merry Christmas” on their flyers during the holiday season.
This is the same group that is calling for a boycott of The Gap because the store had “Happy Hanukkah” and “Happy Kwanza” in addition to “Merry Christmas” in their recent ads.
I can’t even begin to mention all the wrong things with that conclusion. But, it saddens me how many people are actually going along with that ignorant stance.
This is not a so-called “attack on Christmas,” or anything close to it. If anything, this is really just an “attack on anything that’s not Christmas.” The fact of the matter is that this holiday happened to lie on the same exact day as Black Friday. Christmas happens to be a month away. How this greeting could possibly be insulting to Christmas is a charge that utterly bamboozles me.
It takes a narrow-minded fundamentalist to turn glad tidings into an insult.
The crazy reaction to this gesture of respect and inclusiveness has been nothing but disgusting, not to mention downright embarrassing. We’re supposed to live in a society that respects others, regardless of their race, creed or religion. Being inclusive isn’t merely a stance that’s suggested — on the contrary, it’s a strong requirement built on our strongest core values and beliefs.
What’s even more preposterous is that in addition to being downright offensive, people are also suggesting that we should be boycotting these fine retailers for being inclusive, rather than praise them for the fine gesture.
To those advocating mass boycotts, I urge you to think through this mindless banality. No one’s attempting to attack or cater to a specific creed — retailers are only growing more accepting, as they should be. This is literally the first time this holiday, which is celebrated by millions of Americans, has been acknowledged by the retail giant. Can’t we just let the Thanksgiving-Eid week pass? I assure you we will be seeing snow angels and “Merry Christmas” greetings soon enough.
The bottom line is that being against the greeting “Happy Eid” is racist and being against “Happy Hanukkah” is anti-Semitic. These are simple facts.
Still, if you insist on continued intolerance, go ahead and leave. After all, it’s your right as an American to believe and do what you want. It’s a privilege we are blessed with, coming from that same constitution that urges us to accept others.
Just don’t let the door hit you on the way out.
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