The spirit of Christmas is in the air and, just like Santa Claus, the religious liberty organisation Liberty Counsel has come up with this year's "Naughty & Nice" list.
No, the list is not the same as that of dear old Santa who rewards nice children with toys and goodies. The Liberty Counsel list is about companies that recognise Christmas—the "nice" ones—and those that seek to censor it—the "naughty" ones.
In a statement on its website, Liberty Counsel says it's monitoring cases across the U.S. where the celebration of Christmas is facing threats both publicly and privately.
"These threats include atheist groups seeking to ban nativity scenes from public property, senior living centers that prohibit residents from singing Christmas carols, public schools that ban students from wearing the Christmas colors of red and green, school officials who censor religious words from Christmas carols, and retailers which profit from Christmas while pretending it does not exist," the group explains.
"In all of these situations, Liberty Counsel has successfully educated and reversed these anti-Christmas actions," it says.
The religious liberty organisation also makes it clear that celebrating Christmas is legal in public schools and in public venues.
For its 2016 "Naughty & Nice List," Liberty Counsel listed 26 "nice" retailers and only eight "naughty" ones.
The 26 "nice" retailers listed in alphabetical order are: AC Moore Arts & Crafts, Barnes & Noble, Bath & Body Works, Belk, Best Buy, Bronner's CHRISTmas WONDERLAND, Christmasplace.com, CVS Pharmacy, Dillard's, Hallmark, Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc., The Home Depot, JCPenney, Kmart, Kohl's, Lehman's, Lowe's, Macy's, Menards, Neiman Marcus, Rite Aid Pharmacy, Sears, Staples, ToysRUs, Walgreens, and Walmart.
Liberty Counsel lauded these retailers for their use of the word "Christmas" in their products or advertising and for making references to Jesus, nativity, or biblical elements.
Meanwhile, the eight "naughty" retailers are: American Eagle Outfitters, Dick's Sporting Goods, Gap, Inc., J. Crew Outfitters, The Limited, Old Navy, RadioShack, and TJ Maxx.
Liberty Counsel tagged these retailers for their disregard of Christmas, using no reference to Christmas, Jesus or any biblical elements in their products associations and advertisements. Some have only vague reference to Christmas while others only mention "holiday."
The group hopes that the list it has produced would guide Christian consumers where to shop this holiday season. "In the private retail market, consumers can choose to patronize stores that recognize Christmas and refuse to buy from those that pretend it does not exist," said Mat Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel.
