From the horse's mouth:

Tim Wildmon, head of the American Family Association, based in Tupelo, Miss., weighs in on what he sees as the war on Christmas.

Q. What do you hope to gain with a boycott of Target?

A. That you diminish the importance of Christmas when you censor the word "Christmas" out of your promotions. What does Target think people are buying? They're buying Christmas gifts, not holiday gifts. We're not trying to hurt American companies, but something needs to be done.

Q. For many years, Christians have been decrying the commercialism of Christmas. Yet you have chosen to make retailing your battleground. Why?

A. It's about the secularization of Christmas and of our entire culture. It's political correctness run amok.

Q. Given the fact that "Silent Night" and "Joy to the World" play endlessly in every store and that Santa Claus and trim-a-tree shops are everywhere, do you really believe that the holiday is endangered?

A. Yes, because it's about exchanging our traditions for a more generic December. These changes don't happen in a vacuum. It represents an anti-Christian bias. To equate the importance of Christmas with Hanukkah or Kwanzaa makes absolutely no sense to me. About 95 percent of the people who are in your store are there for the birth of you-know-who.

Q. If you are true people of faith, rather than stage a boycott why not use that same energy volunteering at a shelter or a soup kitchen?

A. Not everyone is as passionate as we are. Certainly, you can participate in charity work and speak out on the culture wars at the same time.

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About 95 percent of the people who are in your store are there for the birth of you-know-who.

Voldemort?

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Voldemort?

That's exactly what I thought. But, he probably doesn't know about that whole thing, 'cause he probably boycotts the Harry Potter books.

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Tim Wildmon, head of the American Family Association, based in Tupelo, Miss., weighs in on what he sees as the war on Christmas.

I'm from Tupelo. I had no idea the AFA was based there. That actually surprises me a bit - for a deep South town, I always thought we were pretty liberal.

We also don't have a Target. IJS.

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What does Target think people are buying? They're buying Christmas gifts, not holiday gifts.

Every once in a while, I worry that the message I feel of "if you're not a Christian you aren't part of our culture" at this time of year is just me being paranoid and oversensitive. So nice to be reassured on that front.

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Every once in a while, I worry that the message I feel of "if you're not a Christian you aren't part of our culture" at this time of year is just me being paranoid and oversensitive. So nice to be reassured on that front.

Yeah...wait, no it isn't.

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Wonkette had a nice response to the White House xmas card issue:

May we suggest heeding National Council of Churches' Rev. Bob Edgar: "I think it's more important to put Christ back into our war planning than into our Christmas cards."

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By the same token, though, Trudy's example of Columbus Day is a little different. Columbus Day is not, as far as I know, a traditionally gift-giving holiday. So the stores' decision to throw sales that weekend is up to them, and I don't think any consumers care why they're getting 50 to 75% off or whatever.

I phrased that badly. I just mean that stores don't "celebrate" or "acknowledge" ANY holidays, they're just an excuse for sales.

Every once in a while, I worry that the message I feel of "if you're not a Christian you aren't part of our culture" at this time of year is just me being paranoid and oversensitive. So nice to be reassured on that front.

And don't you forget it!

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May we suggest heeding National Council of Churches' Rev. Bob Edgar: "I think it's more important to put Christ back into our war planning than into our Christmas cards."

RIGHT!?!?!??!????

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Jesus could be a Special Forces guy who sneaks into insurgent's camps and changes their water to wine, resulting in the insurgent being wasted.

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