Like millions of American men, my Christmas list includes a bunch of power tools and do-it-yourself gadgets. (I’ve been hinting to my wife for weeks that the power sander on sale at our local hardware store would, actually, benefit the whole family). But our Christmas shopping this year will not include the hardware mega-store Lowe’s.
Unbelievably, the store pulled its advertising from one of the few redeeming reality shows out there, TLC’s All-American Muslim, after the conservative Florida Family Association had its members complain about Lowe’s sponsorship of the show. The group calls the show – which features Muslim families in Dearborn, Michigan – “propaganda that riskily hides the Islamic agenda’s clear and present danger to American liberties and traditional values.” In other words, the show doesn’t feature the distorted, unbalanced images of Muslims that usually pollute the airwaves. It features reality.
The surprising thing is not that such misguided groups are out there, but that Lowe’s caved to their absurd demands. The incident is reminiscent of the bad old days of Jim Crow, when Black entertainer Nat King Cole’s groundbreaking TV show was cancelled—despite his world-wide super stardom at the time—when advertisers folded to segregationist pressure in the South.
Fortunately, some things have changed since then, and there is a campaign afoot to avoid Lowe’s this Christmas season unless they change their decision. Consumers will have to decide for themselves but, for me, supporting American Muslims is the Christian thing to do this season.
