AFA Founder Urges Pro-Family Holiday Season Shoppers to Shun Target
by Ed Thomas
November 18, 2005
(AgapePress) - - The American Family Association (AFA) wants help from the shopping public in using the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday weekend to keep sending a message to Target Stores about the national chain's faith-and-family-unfriendly practices. AFA chairman Donald E. Wildmon says it is important that the organization's current boycott against Target, which started in October, keep hurting the company's bottom line -- that is, the amount of money made -- especially during the biggest shopping weekend of the year. He is hoping a strong message from the pro-family shopping public will help convince Target to change some of its policies.
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Dr. Don Wildmon |
The reasons for the boycott are valid ones, Wildmon asserts, and they include Target's "refusal to let the Salvation Army put their kettles in front of the stores," and the company's policy "banning all use of 'Merry Christmas' in their internal store operations and in their advertising." He says Target wants the profits from Christian families' spending, but the retailer does not want their holiday message or the spirit of their charities -- including faith-based service organizations like the Salvation Army. That is why the AFA spokesman feels it is essential that projected sales at Target stores nationwide and the value of the company's shares continue dropping, as a recent USA Today report indicates they have. He says the newspaper article revealed that Target's new store revenue and stock value have both taken a hit over the last year.
"They are a good bit lower in their sales in November than they had expected," Wildmon notes. "In fact, it's so bad that on Tuesday of this week, their stock dropped seven percent in one day." The Christian activist believes these low numbers are likely due in large part to the boycott, and he wants to see the trend continue.
It is important, Wildmon asserts, that the upcoming monster Thanksgiving shopping weekend and Christmas season be used to show Target that it cannot get Christians' purchasing revenue while rejecting their beliefs and their charities. He is encouraging pro-family shoppers to take their money elsewhere until Target gets the message and changes its policies.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
