American Family Asociation's Christmas "Ornament"

[SisterofJared]

Yes it would do the world a favor if we all avoided pink and frilly instead!

[prisonchaplain]

As FYI, I didn't see "it" at first either. Further, I'm guessing that despite being located in Missippi, the group did not see the KKK connection, either. Done in humor? No, like most of us, the burning cross was probably nowhere on the radar screen, when this decision to sell this trinket was made.

On the other hand, here in the progressive northwest, many Christian churches, included evangelical ones, are removing their crosses. Some use the racial history as a reason. Others say it has lost its meaning as being redemptive, and has come to be viewed as morbid and triumphalist.

Personally, I understand the LDS rational, but am saddened that many of these churches are giving up a historic symbol with deep meanings, due mostly to marketing strategy.

On the other hand, the American Family people might consider giving up the lights, at least, out of respect and as a true demonstration of being "pro-family."

[Gwen]

so with all the ppl upset about this has anyone contacted them to say what they first saw in it.......... ?

[KristofferUmfrey]

Does it include kerosene and matches?

[Elphaba]

Originally Posted by SisterofJared

Being Politically Correct means ALWAYS having to say you're sorry!

Would you mind helping me out with this, because heaven knows I don’t want the pejorative “politically correct” hung around my neck.

I have been here over a year and a half, and it would be impossible for me to count how many posts I have read that cry “persecution.“ And in almost every one of them, they liken the very real persecutions the early Saints endured to the pithy persecutions they think they are still enduring today.

According to your rationale, if I express my compassion for the black Americans who were terrorized by monsters, I am being politically correct. I get that.

But when someone here writes a post about the early Saints who were terrorized, albeit in much smaller numbers, and by different monsters, am I being politically correct if I express my compassion for them as well?

Or, again using your rationale, when I express my belief that is better not to offend people by displaying an item that evokes their hate-filled and violent past, I am being politically correct.

But if I express my concerns that it is offensive to demean the early Saints' hate-filled and violent past by comparing it to the present persecutions that are nothing but, isn't that being politically correct as well?

Because the only difference I see is one of the groups is Mormon.

I don’t cherry pick the atrocities I give my compassion to. And if showing my compassion for one of the above is being politically correct, then it is true for other as well.

So be it. I don't mind.

Elphaba

[Elphaba]

Originally Posted by KristofferUmfrey

Does it include kerosene and matches?

Probably not.

You'll have to make your own crosses if you want to burn them.

Elphaba

[Elphaba]

Originally Posted by Gwen

so with all the ppl upset about this has anyone contacted them to say what they first saw in it.......... ?

me me me!

Elphie

[Elphaba]

Originally Posted by Moksha

Once they had the prototype cross in mock up before production, it would have been hard to not notice the similarity between that "Christmas Decoration" and the Klan symbol. Wonder if some will put them on their front porch for other holidays as well?

Moksha,

I've said it before and I'll say it again.

You always say in two sentences what I'm trying to in one wordy post after another.

Elphaba

[Elphaba]

Originally Posted by prisonchaplain

As FYI, I didn't see "it" at first either. Further, I'm guessing that despite being located in Missippi, the group did not see the KKK connection, either. Done in humor? No, like most of us, the burning cross was probably nowhere on the radar screen, when this decision to sell this trinket was made.

This is why I disagree.

I was an assistant buyer, albeit briefly, for Albertson's. I also had my own publishing business where I wrote/edited/designed numerous ads like the one on the website.

It is a lengthy process to get a new item on the shelves, or in this case, on the website. I have no idea how many buyers the AFA has, if any, but usually there is an extensive analysis of the product, including its provenance, to determine if it will show a profit.

I mention its provenance because it is possible other stores bought the item as well, and if there were any serious complaints about the product, the vendor has to provide that information to the buyer. In this case, the company that makes the cross is the vendor, and the buyer is the AFA.

If the vendor does not provide the item's provenance, including any serious complaints, it is a violation of the contract, and it stands to lose a great deal of money.

Additionally, when editors put put the ads together, they question everything, including the content. If I, as an ad designer, had questioned the content of the ad, in this case the cross, I would have gone to the powers that be, just in case they hadn't seen it. At the point, the PTB would have had to approve it anyway for it to be included in the on-line catalogue.

Frankly, if I had been the ad designer, I would have strenuously insisted they re-think the product. But I am also used to making these decisions on my own, and not having to convince anyone of anything. That is not usually the case for in-house editors, who, in this case, probably got the ad assignment without benefit of questioning it.

On the other hand, the AFA does not appear to be a large company, and usually editors in smaller companies have more say about the product. Obviously there are a number of possibilities here.

But when editors design ads like this one, it goes through at least two or three sets of eyes, because the original writer cannot see errors after working on it for a period of time. Errors pop out at fresh eyes.

I doubt the AFA's process is as tight as what I've described above; however, it has a large product line, and there has to some analysis of each item, including its provenance, or else the company would go under.

I do not believe that not one of the people who saw this item, from inception to inclusion in the AFA's product line and the corresponding ad, did not notice its resemblance to the burning crosses. The item simply goes through too many hands, and in the case of the ads, too many eyes.

Having said that, I noticed the product does not have a price per se; rather, it has a suggested donation that corresponds with the price the item would sell for. So I wonder if the AFA is funded by a parent company where profits are not the goal. If so, that would pretty much negate everything I just wrote. Well, most of it.

On the other hand, here in the progressive northwest, many Christian churches, included evangelical ones, are removing their crosses. Some use the racial history as a reason. Others say it has lost its meaning as being redemptive, and has come to be viewed as morbid and triumphalist.

Okay, I don't get this. How is the cross itself a symbol of racist history? Was it used without it being burned? If so, I did not know that.

On the other hand, the American Family people might consider giving up the lights, at least, out of respect and as a true demonstration of being "pro-family."

I don't understand why people on this thread intimated I am overreacting, yet most of you agree the cross is in poor taste.

Meh*

Elphaba

*"Meh" is one of the new words added to the dictionaries.

[MarginOfError]

The fact that people will see what they want to see in this symbol is precisely why I wouldn't put one up in my yard. While I may understand what it is meant to represent, there are too many people out there that don't. I don't need a fallout like this one coming to my doorstep. If someone wants to put one up in their yard, I have no objection to that. When the community freaks out about the burning cross they put up, I'll do my best to explain that there isn't any need to label that person a racist. But I'm not going to feel sorry for the person for what they end up going through.

One of the first rules of communication is that the message understood by the receiver is really the only message that matters.

And Elphs, I love you, but you're wrong. It is entirely possible that the people working for the AFA couldn't catch this similarity this bears to the KKK symbol. You seem to be forgetting that the AFA is a collection of some of the worlds greatest morons that hates anyone that doesn't submit to their brand of Christianity.