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Same-sex greetings
Now that California—pending a vote in November—has joined Massachusetts as the only states legalizing same-sex marriage, Hallmark has decided to go after the “gay marriage” market with a line of greeting cards, which could be seen as another victory for the homosexual agenda in its efforts to make same-sex marriage more mainstream. “It’s our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can,” Hallmark spokesperson Sarah Gronberg Kolell told the Associated Press. Hallmark’s top competitor, American Greetings, has no plans to create such a line, and individual Hallmark stores can opt to not carry the cards.
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back to top54 Comments to “Same-sex greetings”
Did you catch what Hallmark spokesperson Sarah Gronberg Kolell told the AP? “It’s our goal to be as relevant as possible to as many people as we can,”
It’s a perfect picture of the liberal mind, and it’s why so many young people today cannot find (or do not have) an identity of their own.
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After my daughter revealed she was in an “out of law” relationship with another woman, I seriously considered trying to market “same-sex” greeting cards, but I never went anywhere with the idea.
Joel’s first comment reveals typical kindness and generosity. Neither of us is racing to the top this morning.
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Why must there be different greeting cards for same-sex couples? Supposedly they are getting married the same as heterosexual people. There are already plenty of greeting cards for weddings.
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I agree with Kyle. If you look at a lot of those cards, they’re pretty unisex.
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In the immortal words of Victoria, “Why not?”
(I am sure Victoria will be along shortly to tell me why not.)
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Wal-Mart has a huge section of card marked with a Christian Cross to signify that they’re greeting cards for Christians. (interestingly, they exclude Jews and other major religions). Why do Christians need their own special cards? Why can’t they use generic cards like everyone else?
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To Anlir
Do you accept a paid day off from work on December 25 to honor the birth of Christ?
If you do don’t you feel like kind of a hypocrite?
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Nick has a point – in the interests of unity and respect for all faiths I think all religious holidays should become public holidays. North Americans need more holidays anyway.
Here is yet an other example of the incompatibility of free market capitalism and the Christian right. Capitalism will supply products where ever there is a demand. Why neo-cons and the religious right are in the same party is case of delusion for one group or both.
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HRW, I’m all for free market capitalism. If they can make enough money from these without losing more from regular customers who have a problem with this, then knock yourself out. I don’t think anyone is saying these should be illegal.
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6. Because more of their customers are Christians they can sell better. As more Hispanics move into the South, I’m seeing a lot more cards and other merchandise for Catholics.
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Here’s my predictions:
1. The AFA or some other off-the-wall conservative Christian group will call for a boycott of Hallmark. Nothing short of a sign in every Hallmark store saying “We do not serve gays” will make them happy.
2. A TV Preacher will use this incident to raise millions of dollars to fight the “homosexual agenda”.
3. This thread will dissolve into a shouting match between the conservative Christians who think gays are the scum of the earth and those of us who think gays deserve equal dignity and respect.
Sadly, the editors of Worldmag continue to feed the monster and behave irresponsibly.
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I am wondering if this is a “Drama Queen” topic or there is a better name for it?
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Mickey sez: be seen as another victory for the homosexual agenda
Again with this mythical “agenda.” Where is it? Have you seen it? Where can I get a copy?
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To Anlir
Why do you chose to live in a predominately Christian country? Do you think Islamic countries treat gays better than Christian countries (just to give one example).
The next time you want to go into another one of your anti-Christian diatribes you might want to notice all the non-Christians pouring into Canada, the U.S., Europe and Australia.
Maybe they know thinks you don’t.
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Hallmark has decided to go after the “gay marriage” market with a line of greeting cards, which could be seen as another victory for the homosexual agenda in its efforts to make same-sex marriage more mainstream.
Yes could be seen, and will be seen, by folks intent on sticking their noses in other people’s business.
I wanna copy of the agenda! Especially the part where gays attempt to make christianists look bad by infiltrating their ranks (Thanks, Ted).
Joel laments the fact that his ‘identity’ is so lame because he identifies with evangelicals, then projects that on to ‘the young people’. Get em, granpaw.
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No Kyle,
Gay people really don’t want to be considered the same as other folks or be lumped into the same classifications. They are special, need special rights and be protected, especially from everyone else who is not like them. Except for that urge they have to be the same as you and me.
Oddly, they just have to be allowed to be married – just like everyone else. Their wish for sameness seems to be overwhelming.
Now common greetings themselves, greeting cards not withstanding, have become awkward, tedious and time consuming because of gays wanting to be different and the same as everyone else at the same or different times depending on something you can’t understand. Here is an example.
It used to be ‘Hi, I’m Llama. (I’m Kyle) Glad to meet you Kyle. Are you married? (Why yes I am – 3 years now) What’s your wife’s name Kyle. (Mary and yours?) Jane. Any kids yet? (Just one) Got 3 myself. etc.
Now it is the same till you get to Are you married? (Not in this state.) Why not? (They won’t let me marry my brother’s ex wife) I can see where your brother might be upset about it, depending on how much he is paying in alimony, but why would the state care? (Because my brother was married in CA and he was gay, like me, and Evil Christian conservatives in this state won’t allow me to marry my precious Bobbi). Why don’t you just go to CA and get married like your brother did? (I don’t want to be like him, I want to be different, Bobbi deserves difference don’t you think? But, I still want to get married the same as I could out in CA – but do it different here since we don’t have a beach to get married on and Bobbi isn’t nearly as fond as pink as he used to be). Good luck with your struggles and I am sure it will work out for you both in the end and I think Bobbi is right about pink too. See Ya.
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The line Joel quoted in his post at #1 also caught my eye. Since these cards aren’t relevant to me, I won’t be enriching Hallmark or any other company, but as KBells notes — knock yourselves out.
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Hi, everybody. As the name implies, I know quite a bit about this specific subject. I can assure you that Llama’s viewpoint became untenable at Hallmark years ago. Years ago.
I’m here to tell ya, the *cultural* battle has been fought over maintaining the stigma about gay folk, and Llama’s side lost. It’s over, and every passing day transfers a smidgeon more of that same stigma to those who would stand athwart history and yell Stop!
It’s over. Finished. Kaput.
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Again with this mythical “agenda.” Where is it? Have you seen it? Where can I get a copy?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000XKRTSI/ref=dp_olp_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1219338787&sr=8-1&condition=all
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Nick,
Just curious. Do you yourself have a problem with taking December 25 off–to celebrate the birthday of a Jewish man?
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Well, you have to admit the marketing possibilities for Hallmark are practically endless.
Being politically correct could open up some new markets for them.
For instance, instead of ‘Baby Shower’ cards, they can come up with (for the rabidly pro-aborts) a ‘Fetus Shower’ line of cards.
Maybe they can come out with a line of greeting cards for the Polygamists, too. “Congratulations On Your 14th Wife; Is This One Out of Grade School Yet?”
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yeah i don’t know why hallmark hasn’t done that drill.
consider
Earth Day cards
Happy 6005 birthday!
or
Cut It Down, Dig It Up, Turn it into a Monoculture: Jesus is Coming Back Soon!
i am sure there many more niche markets than just that. perhaps i will go into business from my experiences here.
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Well, Hallmark Artist,
Having moral outrage against moral convictions is a little, um, inconsistent, wouldn’t you say? If one isn’t allowed to attach a moral stigma to sexual immorality, then one shouldn’t be allowed to attach a moral stigma to a person simply for holding a different moral standard.
Thanks for checking in here, though.
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Cheryl, who said anything about allowing or not allowing attachments? Or for that matter, who said anything about consistency? Heck I certainly didn’t.
Besides, I’m only pointing out the de facto reality.
And what makes you think I’m not a regular reader?
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I don’t think the stigma is gone. It has just become politically incorrect to say “ewwww,” that’s all. It’s still there. Heterosexuals still talk behind gays’ backs, and everyone here knows it. They’re tolerated better, for sure, but no one is in favor of it.
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NJ LAWYER, It has not only become politically incorrect to say “ewww”. Saying “ewwww” or anything approaching “ewwwwwww” would–in a very real, measurable way–either deliver you directly to unemployment benefits, or start you down that path with zero hope of turning around. At that point it would only be a matter of time for the i’s to be dotted and the t’s crossed, legally.
You can THINK “eww” all you like, but you may no longer express it publically in any way. Of course, I’m talking about Hallmark, so maybe your firm does it differently.
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Okay, I’m done contributing.
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NJLawyer: They’re tolerated better, for sure, but no one is in favor of it.
Speak for yourself. Actually a LOT of people are in favor of minding their own businesses and not passing judgments on people whose lives take them down less well-traveled paths.
It’s just busybodies like yourself and many of your fellow travelers who spend much time being outraged over it.
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Llama: Gay people really don’t want to be considered the same as other folks or be lumped into the same classifications. They are special, need special rights and be protected, especially from everyone else who is not like them. Except for that urge they have to be the same as you and me.
Oddly, they just have to be allowed to be married – just like everyone else. Their wish for sameness seems to be overwhelming.
I assume you think you are making some kind of point here, but darned if I can figure out what it is. It looks like you just beat yourself in a debate.
Anyway, gays want no “special” rights, despite the endless repetition of that phrase that emanates from your corner. They want the right to not be discriminated against like every other human person. And that’s about all the “gay agenda” is.
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HalmarkArtist: Besides, I’m only pointing out the de facto reality. Spoken like a true member of the mindless liberal herd. One is sure the folks in the Soviet Union in Stalin’s time said the same to Solzhenitsyn’s friends.
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One can sum up conservative Christianity with two simple shibboleths:
1. “Gay agenda”
2. “Baby killer”
That is the essence of their entire social worldview. It’s the be-all and end-all for them. Come hell or high water, that’s what they cling to.
How does one deal with such simplistic, irrational thinking? Beats the heck out of me!
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SteveG, lately I’ve spent a lot of time with a lot of educated people in a lot of different businesses these days, who are new to me, and when the topic presents itself, I cannot tell you how many people will say something to the effect “well, you know, you can’t say anything out loud today, but you know xyz as soon as the gay person leaves. It’s just a fact of life.
And just so you know, I’m not the one making the comments. And most of these people are not practicing Christians — they are liberals with money who play the game. Maybe there are “true believers” like you out there, but not as many as you think. It’s a sham. Gays are invited for business events because they are in the business, but outside of the business, I don’t see these men making friends with gay men. It just doesn’t happen. Now, maybe they’re trying to convince me that they’re not gay, but usually the fact that they’re married has already convinced me.
You just don’t live in the real world. Again, it’s a sham, a polite sham, but a sham nonetheless.
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Those who are hung up on following politically correct do not live in the real world and they can’t face the fact that most people find gay activities repugnant. When confronted with it, it is met with polite banter, then people move on and away from it. And that’s the truth. If it weren’t, you guys wouldn’t be talking about “stigma” and getting the “same” “rights.”
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“Anyway, gays want no “special” rights, despite the endless repetition of that phrase that emanates from your corner. They want the right to not be discriminated against like every other human person. And that’s about all the “gay agenda” is”
Since present marriage laws apply equally to all people regardless of orientation there is no discrimination in restricting marriage to heterosexual partners. Trying to subvert language and reason to force the inattentive to confuse unlike things with alike is pleading for “special rights.” Attempts to do end runs around the legislative will of the people by creating “constitutional” rights to redefine a cultural institution with a long history such as marriage in order to compel approval of that which is not marriage is not “minding one’s business.”
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It’s the conservative Christians who are not living in the real world. They still think it’s “cool” to express their hatred and contempt for gay people, treat us a social outcasts, and attempt to deny us our legal and civil rights.
To use myself as an example, I’m gay and every friend, family member, and co-worker knows it. My two best buds in life are as hetero as you can get (”good old boys” would be an accurate description of them). In fact, 95% or more of my relationships in life are with straight people. The only problems I’ve ever had are with the fundy Christians who can’t get over their ignorant back-woods thinking about gay people.
It’s only in the pea-brained little mind of conservative Christians that gay people are the “lepers” of America. Such ignorance! Such stupidity! It’s a sad thing to watch it in action on here.
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Anlir, I haven’t expressed any “hatred” for anybody. I’m relating my experience to you, and you can’t accept it. You can believe it is just conservative Christians who hate you all you want, that isn’t so, we don’t hate you. But I’m not encountering conservative Christians on a daily business basis at all, not in NJ. I have only recently met these people and it is they who are trying to slot me, not the other way around. I’m just calling it as I see it.
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I’m just calling it as I see it.
Yeah, we heard the same excuse when it came to black people, as if that somehow justified their ignorance and prejudice.
The only way to deal with the ignorance and stupidity that infests conservative Christianity when it comes to gay people is to stand up to it, and hold it up to the light so that people can see it for what it really is: irrational thinking and just plain old hate.
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Saying “eewwwwwww” isn’t politically incorrect its just best left in the primary school yard.
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Anlir, what legal and civil rights are you being denied by Christians?
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I totally agree with NJLawyer. You know, us teenagers are supposed to be all “enlightened” or something. But “Dude, quit being so gay,” is a common insult.
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I still haven’t read an explanation of why homosexual people need or want special greeting cards. Don’t they want to be treated like everyone else. Isn’t a same-sex marriage comparable to an opposite-sex marriage?
For the record, I would never say that such cards should be legally banned. I would say that people have the right to boycott Hallmark or any other company they disagree with. I would also say that if the cards are racy–and I would include “heterosexual” cards here–they should not be displayed where children can see them.
As for Christian greeting cards, they make sense. Christians do claim to be different from others.
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One of the points in my #41 comment, and in some of the prior comments, is that homosexual people need to decide if their motto is “we’re the same as you” or “we’re different and proud.” I don’t expect every homosexual to agree on what the motto should be, but any given individual should be consistent.
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Oh my. Someone here is looking like they’ve clenched the gold medal in Whining.
This same individual already has a gold medal in Nastiness.
And is apparently now aiming at a third in Hypocrisy.
Not all of us can be such natural-born atheletes, I guess.
Me, I just work at trying to get a Bronze in Being Annoying.
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One can sum up conservative Christianity with two simple shibboleths:
1. “Gay agenda”
2. “Baby killer”
That is the essence of their entire social worldview. It’s the be-all and end-all for them. Come hell or high water, that’s what they cling to.
There’s no question, those are two biggies. Back in the 19th century, slavery was the big one.
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Anlir, I know you have problems with actual facts, but here goes. When I meet a group of men and one of them is gay and the others are polite to him, etc., until he leaves the room and then the straight men want to make it clear to me, a woman, that “I’m not like that,” then give me a wink, they want reassurance from me that “I understand they’re “all man.” It has been my experience that men want to make sure that the women around them who don’t know them don’t think they are “like that.” All this paragraph is, as well as preceding paragraphs, is a simple factual statement of what I have experienced. I can’t help it if you or your little bevy here don’t like it or if you guys can’t accept the fact that men often find homosexual activity repugnant and want to distance themselves from it. Those are facts, plain and simple.
I personally do not want to know and usually put my hand up to stop the conversation and say the words “I’m not thinking anything” or “I don’t want to know” and walk away. I don’t want to know about their justifications for adultery either. Moreover, we are not talking about Christian men. In fact, it is the “liberal” men who want everyone to think they are so enlightened who are the ones feeling insecure and need to prove themselves.
The best thing people who are different can do for themselves is accept that they are different, mainly because everyone is different in one way or another.
(Thank you OT, for your contribution.)
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I seriously considered trying to develop a line of gay greeting cards, many years ago. I was ahead of my time and missed the boat.
I am now considering starting a company called Ewwww Ungreeting Cards. (Need a better, or worse, name, but I am brainstorming here.)
For example, a card for a family whose child has been “cured” of homosexuality.
This will be big. I am a late bloomer, but I smell blood here. Well, being metaphorical, I mean money, of course.
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One does indeed marvel at the “lawyerly” skills being put to use to justify the homophobia and active hatred that conservative Christians have toward gay people. As for the morality behind it, there is none. It’s just plain old ignorance and hate. Tis a pity that conservative Christians cling so tightly to that.
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For your “Ewwww Ungreeting Cards line:
Outside: God Hates Fags!
Inside: …But we still love you anyway!
**********
Outside: You’re an abomination to our family!
Inside: Too bad that Old Testament thing isn’t still in effect!
**********
Outside: Sodomite!
Inside: If I give you my daughter to sleep with will you stay out of the gay bars?
**********
Musical card:
Outside: Pervert!
Inside: “Don’t Come Around Here No More!” by Tom Petty
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8. I just got back from Target and they had Happy Jewish New Year cards.
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NJLAwyer: I’m sure it does your heart good to learn that other people share your particular bigotry. I’m sure that the stories you’re telling are true.
But a few anecdotes doesn’t prove any claims of which view is in the majority. My sense is that the majority of people are not anti-gay. But even if I’m wrong about that, it doesn’t matter … bigotry is still wrong.
Sorry if you object to my labeling it bigotry … I’m just calling it as I see it.
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#40 OT — most of my students are being ironic when they say; you are so gay. The fact is some of them are known to be gay and hence the irony.
#41-42 its called marketing. but if you don’t like it, hide out at the christian book store — that’s marketing also. Why do Christians need their own stores — why are they so special?
#45 NJL, you know some very sexually insecure men. Its never been my experience — the only time I ever made sure people knew I was straight was in a gay bar. As I’ve said before anecdotes prove nothing. Instead look at the general climate of opinion and I think you will agree society is more open today. (Of course, I live in one of the more liberal areas in North America so take it with a grain of salt.
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Ewwwwww ungeeting cards — what a concept.
Sympathy card
front: Remember, comfort is a phone call away
inside: Its not your fault your family votes Republican.
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I make my own greeting cards.
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HRW, some of your students may be gay, but the ones I am surrounded by are not, or at least not openly so. Your irony is nowhere to be seen around here.
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