A store in Berkeley, California, Bear Basics, is selling T-shirts that say “F— Christmas”; the shirt bears the full name of the obscenity.
William Donohue, president of the Catholic League, today explained the league’s response to this matter:
“The manager of Bear Basics, Sandie Handschoh, was not available when I called yesterday, but I did speak to three of the store’s employees, including Mark who handles the store’s inventory. Without identifying who I was, I said I wanted to buy three ‘F— Christmas’ T-shirts and three ‘F— Hanukkah’ T-shirts. When I was told that they didn’t carry any ‘F— Hanukkah’ T-shirts, I responded that this struck me as discriminatory. Continuing to press the issue, I was told that no one would make such a shirt, thus verifying what I instinctively knew to be true.
“Interestingly, I was also told that Bear Basics carries T-shirts that say ‘F— Halloween’ and ‘F— Valentine’s Day.’ Being Irish, I took special note of their St. Patrick’s Day line of T-shirts that read, ‘F— Me, I’m Irish.’ I then asked if they had any ‘F— the Jews’ or ‘F— the Gays’ T-shirts and learned that they did not. Just the Irish.
“Berkeley is not America but it is a leading indicator of what passes as politically correct. Among other things, it tells us that there is a market for those whose hatred of Jesus Christ is unparalleled in American history. Meanwhile, civil libertarians and other professed guardians of liberty are running around municipal buildings looking to see if there are crucifixes hanging from Christmas trees or kids singing ‘Silent Night’ in the lobby. And I wouldn’t be surprised to learn that some of them are running around sporting their new ‘F— Christmas’ T-shirts.”
