A Chase Bank in Southlake, Texas (misreported as Southland by some) removed a Christmas tree donated by a customer earlier this week. JPMorgan Chase policy is to only use decorations supplied by the company, but was there anything else going on here?
The Southlake Chase bank that removed the donated Christmas tree had it in their lobby from the Monday before Thanksgiving until Tuesday. They said they received some customer complaints, according to MSNBC. Some of them were likely related to it being too Christian, but were any of them allergic to pine trees?
The Christmas tree the Chase bank branch had to remove due to JPMorgan Chase policy was donated by Antonio Morales, owner of the Bellagio Day Spas. A clear violation of their standard to only use decorations supplied by the company, but why didn't they refuse it as they should have?
Chase Southlake accepting the Christmas tree from Antonio Morales probably was because of his reputation for decorating trees. He's good enough that his landlord, a Jewish plastic surgeon, asked him to do one for his front office.
The Chase bank branch that removed its Christmas tree has attracted the attention of Christian cultural gadfly group the American Family Association, according to Consumerist. The irony in this and the complaints is that Christmas trees hearken back to a pagan practice.
While Christmas trees such as the one the Chase bank in Southlake removed only really came into full being during the Victorian era, evergreen boughs were used to decorate homes for the Winter Solstice for thousands of years before that.
So Chase Bank having removed the Christmas tree may suit JPMorgan Chase's company policy about decorations, but it's not a Christian symbol at heart. It's for a solar event people have observed since we created rituals in our earliest tribes.
And that Southlake Chase Bank had to remove the Christmas tree, complaints or not. So picking on them for conforming to company policy just seems petty. Aren't there larger issues to focus on this season, like hunger and poverty?
Article ©2010 Brenda Daverin for Gather.com. All rights reserved.
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Comments: 77 ( 3 removed by Brenda Daverin )
So true. It drives me batty when Christians get themselves in a tizzy about taking what they consider to be Christian symbolism out of "Christmas," when "Christmas" itself is just a co-opting of Pagan traditions with some Jesus slapped on them.
As to the Fox "News" segment, I wouldn't doubt it.
If religion is a personal choice, religious holidays should be private, personal celebrations. There should be no expectation that that that state or any business should have to celebrate them to make children's faces light up.
Businesses should have the right to decide whether or not to put up symbols of religious holidays. There is nothing that says that they should be required to do so.
Besides, there is nothing in the Christian Bible that says anything about God wanting Christians to celebrate Christmas. If anything, they should celebrate Hanukkah, as Jesus himself celebrated it. In most Bibles it is called the Feast of Dedication. Look it up.
So all those who agree let's raise a toast, smile and say Merry Christmas!!!!!! to everyone!
I like to see children's faces light up at a birthday cake, but I don't think businesses need to celebrate my children's birthdays. That is a personal celebration.
If religion is a personal choice, religious holidays should be private, personal celebrations. There should be no expectation that that that state or any business should have to celebrate them to make children's faces light up.
Let me guess Krista..you're LEFT handed, you only walk on the LEFT side of the street, and if by some sheer dumb luck, you get to drive on the LEFT side of the road....I see a pattern emerging. You have a problem with anyone expressing their opinion, if it's not in lockstep with yours...A Christmas tree and the symbols used, have been around a helluva lot longer than your sorry ass. And to some people it holds meaning, holds thoughts of family, and of love and of comforts of home, loved ones lost, etc. Not everything has to be bad, it's people like you that are shaping this country to be a wimpy, touchy feely, everybody is equal, except people that believe in God, hold family values important, want this country to stand proud, instead of apologizing for every single thing you blame or deem as inappropriate. Get a life Krista..maybe you'll find a man, and get married, and be happy....living under your rock must be tough.
It's a bank. It makes money. Christmas makes money. Chase will put the tree back or lose money. Duh!
Well, my neighborhood has CHRISTMAS TREES, CROSSES, AMERICAN FLAGS, we provide meals for the homeless throughout the year, warm clothing during the winter months and believe in the generations that made this country great. You don't like a Christmas tree, then just get the hell out.......and take your friends with you!!! Oh, Merry Christmas
What other explanation can come from the inability to see and comprehend the importance of the words "company policy"?
When these Christian supremacist bozos realize that "Happy Holidays" includes Christmas as well as the other winter holidays their dominant culture had been oppressing over the decades, the better off society will be.
By the by, assholes: America never was Christian. Saying that Christmas shouldn't be the only holiday widely celebrated in December isn't equivalent to attacking America. So kindly stop the hyperbole. kthx.
Please please go into the Star Telegram or Channel 11 or Wells Fargo and try to put up a tree!!! Please do, you won’t have much success because of polices! Media should not throw rocks when they live in glass houses! Please go try I would love to hear how it works out for you!
This man is as bad as Balloon Boy! AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!
Do I buy George Bush was involved in 9/11 NO! But when you see with your own ways a man act he has been done so wrong because they want to put up their own tree then and call all the media outlets to come watch him take three down he was pulling a definite Rahm Emanuel...Never let a good crisis go to waste! But this wasn't even a crisis. Morales just wanted to share beauty and so far those poor employees have been torn to sch reds by something they have no control over. These people calling the employees Nazi Fascias, pigs and Satan claim to be representing the Christan community. I don't think so. You are right he wanted the tree in the bank for some advertising and when it was asked to be removed he took advantage of it. It has been so embellished to the point of total insanity. The employees of that bank deserve an apology for the treatment they received for a corporate policy they have nothing to do with! It was wrong and Morales has done nothing but push it. The employees in that bank are Christan's who were so mistreated by the media and the misinformation. The media would have never been there if not for a call from Morales.
Morales just wanted to share beauty and so far those poor employees have been torn to "shreds" by something they have no control over.