Fresh off its apparent victory to put the “Christmas” back into Dick’s, the not at all crazy people at the American Family Association have re-focused their laser beams on JPMorgan Chase. Not because it’s a big bank who was recently sued for its alleged part in the Bernie Madoff ponzi scheme, but because they don’t want Christmas trees in the lobby.
The AFA claims that all Chase branches have been given company-approved holiday decorations and ordered to remove any other holiday decor.
According to an AFA press release, internal Chase documents state that “We don’t want to lose somebody’s business because of seasonal decorations,” and that they want to “ensure that everyone who visits our branches is made to feel completely welcome and comfortable.”
Perfectly sane AFA president Tim Wildmon says:
This is an absurd policy… The most welcoming, inclusive thing you can do this time of year is wish people a merry Christmas.
In fact, Chase’s policy will actually be offensive to many people who bank there. When customers find out that Chase is deliberating disregarding Christmas, they may just be inclined to take their banking business to a Christmas-friendly institution. Christmas is a holiday we’ve set aside as a nation to honor the birth of Christ because of his impact on American and world history. It’s just bad business for any company to show this kind of disregard for our Judeo-Christian heritage.
Yes, because the first thing Christians should be concerned about when celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ (who was a huge fan of bankers, if I remember my catechism correctly) is interest-earning checking accounts and 3-month CDs.
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I don’t care for the bible thumpers ay AFA any more than I do the asshats that have a problem with the word Christmas being banted around. One word to both groups – STFU!
You know who has a problem with the christmas word being used so much? Christians, that’s who. The whole reason for ‘happy holidays’ is a christian group that complained about the commercialization of christmas. Now another nominally christian group is complaining it’s not there.
I’m certainly no fan, but maybe Chase is trying to be more ‘politically correct’ by not using any religious symbols in their holiday displays.
Maybe Mr. Wildmon and the AFA should move to Saudi Arabia for Christmas, and put up his decorations in a public place there. I wonder if he would be publicly executed in chop chop square or just go to prison for a very long time.
People that try to shove their beliefs down other peoples throat are the worst sort of hypocrite in my book
Christmas Trees are a huge fire hazard this time of year, defiantly not something you’d want in a bank. Good on Chase.
If the AFA wants to wrap themselves up in the rampant mindless consumerism of Christmas go home, that’s what it’s there for.
*definitely* … stupid auto-complete
Under the theory of “know thine enemy” I get these AFA emails.
My little anti-Chase message explained a bit more:
Dear Gizmosmonster,
According to the Star-Telegram, a local Texas businessman had assembled and decorated a 9-foot-tall tree in the lobby of the Chase Bank Southlake Boulevard branch in Tarrant County as a favor to the manager, who is one of his clients.
The branch manager was quickly told by the bank that the tree had to go. She later showed the businessman an e-mail from JPMorgan Chase saying that the tree had to be removed because some people were offended by it.
According to internal Chase documents the American Family Association has received, Chase says every bank has “received approved holiday decorations in your December One Box. These are the only (emphasis in original) decorations that may be displayed in the public areas of your branch. If you have any other decorations…please take them down.”
Chase provided decorations…four small window stickers with lights printed on them. That’s it!
According to the employee, “At work, Chase expects us to perform like company-programmed robots and not share the spirit of Christmas with our customers. We’re real people and our customers are real people, but Chase has put chains on our individuality and our ability to share the spirit of Christmas with our friends and neighbors who bank with us.”
The AFA succeeded at putting the “Christmas” back into Dick’s, but when will someone finally stand up with me to put the dicks back into Christmas?
I think the AFA is doing a heckuva job putting the dicks in Christmas.
I find odd that Chris managed to leave out an important part of the story. The story was a Chase customer put up a Christmas tree and corporate made them take it down.. Every other article I have read has this bit of information. Folks were not trying to make Chase put up a tree in every branch they just did not see the harm in this single tree.
I think Chris left out this key part of the story on purposed to get people even more fired up…. pretty lame in my opinion but that is what Consumerist seems to do these day.. very little consumerism and lots of opinion..
Wow – a group that (among other things) supports Christmas is against a business that doesn’t want Christmas decorations!! Who would have thunk??
*yawn*
Next you’ll be telling me that sometimes pro abortion or gay rights groups go into churches dressed all weird!! THAT will be the day! Or that anti-abortion groups protest outside clinics.
Never ceases to amaze me that people get all upset when a group defends their side of an arguement, even if it is only partly related.
As far as war on Christmas, I don’t like it when a company tells employees “thou shalt not” OR “thou shall”. I DO hate when I go into a store and see pine trees being sold as “holiday” trees. Call it what it is. Couple years ago I couldn’t find a single decoration of any sort in Lowes that had the word “Christmas” in it’s name or on it’s box.
The whole ‘separation of church & state’ thing is a crock too. “Congress shall make no law” – means states get to decide. Churches tax exempt? Bullshit – tax ‘em like the rest of us.
AFA, it is not all about you.
It’s all about a fringe group of nutjobs seeing how far they can go before someone delivers a major smackdown. Dick’s should change their name to limp-Dicks for even acknowledging the AFA.
As a *conservative* Christian, I’m immensely embarrassed by these people. I for one don’t care who has a tree up or not. I also don’t care if people say Happy Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. Nor do I care when someone writes “xmas” instead of Christmas.
Why? Because the holiday has nothing to do with the Christian faith. There’s no commandment in the Bible that says “Thou Shalt Celebrate Christmas”, ya know? So it ultimately *doesn’t matter*.
Seriously, it would only take some logical thinking for a minute to figure this stuff out. ~_~
I think we should all boycott the American Family Association for failing to pay proper respect to the reason for the season. Chase has the exact same kind of tree that Jesus had, right?
Shoot, now I’m having second thoughts about my plan to close my Chase account due to new fees. I wonder if Chase secretly paid the AFA to rail against them?
Seeing as the Christmas tree is a holdover from ancient pagan celebrations, I’m not quite sure why the AFA is so up in arms about this. But, Solstice is the real reason for the season, anyway.
This is the first news item about Chase that has improved my opinion of them in history.
I am fucking sick and tired of having Christmas shoved down my throat every time I walk into a store to make a purchase. While I respect the fact there is a market for inflatable Santas and Chia Pets, one day soon I swear I’ll lose it and start projectile vomiting when Bing Crosby’s “White Christmas” plays for the 20th time that day on a store’s Muzak system.
If Chase gives in, it should be done with the same “middle finger” approach Dodge used against PETA over the ad with the chimpanzee: Either shoot an ad with an invisible Christmas tree or start a holiday ad campaign entitled, “JESUS SAVES by Earning Chase Rewards on Credit Card Purchases”.
I love how the Christian Right uses the term ‘Judeo-Christian’. They do it so they can gloss-over 1500 years of Jewish hatred and persecution. I bet I know what they really think of Jews.
Also, Christmas trees are pagan, not Christian (or Jewish). Christians and Jews aren’t even supposed to have a cut-down and decorated tree, ahem:
From Jeremiah 10:2-5:
“10:2 Thus says the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
10:3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
10:5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.â€
Apologists have tried to explain that this passage is about idol worship only. This is absurd, they are clearly talking about a solace tradition of non-Jewish pagans – a tradition I might add that predates Judaism. Other might say that this is old-Testament and it doesn’t apply to Christians. This is also garbage. The Ten Commandments are old testament, and I doubt anyone on the religious right would say that those law don’t apply.
again, Jesus said in Matthew 5:18 – “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
“The Law” he was referring to was the laws in the Old Testament. That includes the rule on shellfish, cloven-hooved animals, working on the Sabbath, which slaves one is allowed to own, and of course – the cutting down and decorating of trees – everything.
The Bible is the best selling book that almost one had read.
I love how the Christian Right uses the term ‘Judeo-Christian’. They do it so they can gloss-over 1500 years of Jewish hatred and persecution. I bet I know what they really think of Jews.
Also, Christmas trees are pagan, not Christian (or Jewish). Christians and Jews aren’t even supposed to have a cut-down and decorated tree, ahem:
From Jeremiah 10:2-5:
“10:2 Thus says the Lord, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them.
10:3 For the customs of the people are vain: for one cuts a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe.
10:4 They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.
10:5 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good.â€
Apologists have tried to explain that this passage is about idol worship only. This is absurd, they are clearly talking about a solace tradition of non-Jewish pagans – a tradition I might add that predates Judaism. Other might say that this is old-Testament and it doesn’t apply to Christians. This is also garbage. The Ten Commandments are old testament, and I doubt anyone on the religious right would say that those law don’t apply.
again, Jesus said in Matthew 5:18 – “For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.”
“The Law” he was referring to was the laws in the Old Testament. That includes the rule on shellfish, cloven-hooved animals, working on the Sabbath, which slaves one is allowed to own, and of course – the cutting down and decorating of trees – everything.
The Bible is the best selling book that almost one had read.
Wow, these guys are complete nutjobs. They seem to hate anyone that isn’t a Christian. Way to be accepting, and to not alienate everyone, AFA! Just in case you want to see how much of a nutjob these people are, you should look here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Family_Association. So basically, any other religion, sexuality, or anything that isn’t Christian is evil. Great!
similar holiday policies at Citi this year.
As difficult it is for me to say, but +1 to The Consumerist for the last paragraph of the article.
As I recall, Jesus was no friend of the bankers and even in early Christianity charging interest on a loan was evil.
I would expect banks to be the last place one would find to recognize Christmas.
Somehow I’ve ended up on these people’s e-mail list. The things they get their knickers in a twist over amazes me. They are boycotting Home Depot because they gave out plastic cups to kids at a gay pride event (the same ones they give to kids at all sorts of events – not some special Homo-Depot cups), and that somehow means that teh gay will be passed out to the kids too. They also like to claim victory over things just because they said it was wrong – even if it doesn’t change anything. Amazing. Tim Wildmon is a perfect example of the kind of Christianity that drives people away – and I’m the WIFE of a Christian minister! (the wife of a female minister, in the Metropolitan Community Churches denomination, but still….)
Ignore these loonies. They don’t represent ANYONE.
Will someone give the AFA something useful to do? If indeed, such a thing exists.
AFA was recently (and I think justifiably) named as a hate group by the SPLC. Why does anyone pay attention to them anyway? it’s like paying attention to Westboro “Baptist Church.”
All of you out there don’t get it. The AFA is basking in the limelight because fools like us actually write an opinion regarding what the AFA has said. Negative publicity is publicity and all this does is give them the feeling of credibility in their own minds. The bottom line is ignore them and maybe/hopefully they will go away. Maybe the media will get the message and quit talking about them too. I doubt that but hey, I can dream.
“It’s just bad business for any company to show this kind of disregard for our Judeo-Christian heritage.”
ummm… Jewish people celebrate Chanukah…. they don’t celebrate christmas… freakin’ idiots