I can't believe I'm getting caught up in this, but I just heard on NPR that Wal-Mart is allowing Salvation Army ringers outside their doors. More than that, they are going to provide a match of up to $1 million!

Wal-Mart truly truly cares about our country, much more so than the anti-Christian, communist and anal-sex loving Target.

Or perhaps they are a desperate business whose sales are unexpectedly low this year, and are trying to stir brand loyalty by tearing the country apart.

I make no secret about not liking the Salvation Army. They are an anti-gay organization that actively works against gay rights. They have that right, but I shed no tears when Target banned Salvation Army ringers this year. (Target didn't do it because of a political stance, but rather because they were receiving a lot of requests for solicitors and didn't want to pick and choose who could be at their doors.)

It is disgusting that the Salvation Army involves itself in politics, and then tries to act like they are under attack by evil corporations. Helping the poor and being anti-gay do not have to go hand-in-hand. And I damn well do not feel bad about not supporting an organization that would rather I did not exist, even if they try to cover it up with "good works."

Wal-Mart, however, saw Target's decision as an opportunity. If the people who run Wal-Mart really felt stirred to give the Salvation Army money, they could have done so without issuing a press release and notifying the conservative media. Or they could have given the money at the beginning of the season, before people were crying that Christmas was under siege. Instead, in the face of declining sales, they broadcast this gift to the world. This is what corporations do--but anyone who thinks that Wal-Mart is a good company because they do this and goes and shops their is giving in to a cynical ploy. (People like Pat Robertson were already telling people to shop at Wal-Mart anyway.)

Like I said in my last post, I celebrated Christmas growing up and have no problem when people tell me Merry Christmas. I don't have a problem with the holiday itself. I have a problem with the way it is being used as yet another wedge by greedy (for power, money, or ratings) miscreants. Anyone who decries the "commercialization" of the holiday should take no solace in a corporate gift from Wal-Mart to the Salvation Army--the gift is commercialization at its most repugnant.