Monday, December 20, 2004

For Christ's sake

Christmas shoppers heading to Target stores to buy gifts may encounter a silent night this season - the retail giant has barred Salvation Army bell-ringers from soliciting donations at its stores' entrances.

Target says that the dismissal is merely a hard-line interpretation of the company's ''no solicitation'' policy, but others aren't convinced. The lobby groups Christian Defense Coalition and the National Clergy Council have called for a boycott of Target stores this Christmas in response to what they see as discrimination against a charity group with Christian roots.

''As part of our boycott movement, we, along with a number of other groups and organizations, have begun urging affiliates, church members and supporters to boycott Target due to their eviction of Salvation Army bell-ringers,'' said Dane Rose, program director at the National Clergy Council. ''We feel that while Target's CEO Bob Ulrich has said it was nothing to do with Christians in particular, we believe that's precisely what it's about.
Galveston Co Daily News article

The Jews no longer have a monopoly on the persecution complex, do they?

I have found that Target, which apparently donates money to environmental causes, is a decent replacement for Wal-Mart shopping. And the refusal of those bell-ringers, if I did any Christmas shopping, would be an added incentive to shop at Target. I understand that is probably a huge money-maker for the Salvation Army (and they wouldn't be nearly so objectionable if they didn't incessantly ring those damned bells), but I don't understand why lone beggars are not allowed to hold a tin cup outside a place of business when the Salvation Army can stand someone there day in and day out. I guess it's that small businessman overrun by the corporation thing we have going in this country.

No comments:

Post a Comment