If you like tools and you want to keep Christ in Christmas, you're in luck. Lowe's is on the American Family Association's "5-Star" list of retailers who "promote and celebrate Christmas on an exceptional basis," and Home Depot is on its "Nice" list.
So there's that.
But you're out of luck if you prefer a national chain instead of a local retailer for your office supplies. Office Depot, Office Max and Staples all are on the organization's "Naughty" list of retailers who "may use 'Christmas' sparingly in a single or unique product description, but as companies do not recognize it."
"We hope the list will move the faithful to choose stores and companies that reflect their values and reward them with their purchasing dollars this Christmas season," said American Family Association (AFA) President Tim Wildmon.
While we believe it's important for retailers to acknowledge in whose name they have such a lucrative season this time every year, we believe it's disingenuous to make all of your purchasing decisions on whether the national office of a local retailer chooses to use the word "Christmas" in its advertising or allows its employees to wish customers a "merry Christmas."
For instance, luckily for East Ridge, the Bass Pro Shops coming to the city's Exit 1 on Interstate 75 and on which the city has spent so much treasure is on AFA's "Nice" list. Imagine if it were on the "Marginal" or the "Naughty" list. The city would be very unhappy if shoppers ignored the store and sunk the town that backed the store into debt.
Or what if Mom worked at Family Dollar, which is ensconced on the "Naughty" list, in a weekend job to make ends meet after spending eight hours every weekday as an administrative assistant at a low-paying nonprofit? If people don't shop at Family Dollar, Mom gets laid off and, with Dad no longer around, there goes Christmas.
What would Jesus do?
AFA is encouraging shoppers to contact the retailers on its "Naughty" list via social media, email or through their websites and encourage them to keep Christ in Christmas. If the retailers received an avalanche of correspondence, they might change their policy. Stranger things have happened. But what if shoppers used that time to visit a lonely senior citizen, shop for a shut-in or write a Christmas card to a prisoner?
And surely, if we so believe, we can keep the Christ in Christmas by offering a smile to everyone we meet in each of the "Naughty" stores, wish them a "merry Christmas" and prompt all those around us to wonder with what joy we walk and in whose steps we tread.