Posted on 10/20/2006 1:47:04 PM PDT by Coleus
Click here to protest now!
Fighting Back at Halloween
It only takes a few determined people to make a difference. Concerned TFP supporters were both shocked and disgusted to hear of an obscene priest costume available at the store in the local mall where children of all ages pick out their Halloween costumes. They decided to do something about it.
At a store in central Pennsylvania, TFP supporter Jose Ferraz asked the store clerk to show him the priest costumes. With some hesitation, she guided him to an area with “everything religious.” He noted that no other religions were represented in the aisle. Only Catholic portrayals were found. The offending costume “Happy Priest” is hard to describe in decent terms. Suffice it to say that it shows a priest in full cassock with a devise to create the effect of an obvious state of sexual arousal. A companion costume of a pregnant nun is often sold online. Mr. Ferraz talked to the manager of the store about how offended he was by the display. He soon contacted others who were willing to protest such a disgraceful portrayal. He wrote to the local newspaper asking people who were offended to vent their opinions. Others called to protest to Spencer Gifts, one of the item’s main distributors. Other Catholics nationwide took similar initiatives.
When Mr. Ferraz returned to the store to see if some action had been taken, he found the costumes had been removed. The assistant manager on site said that he also was offended and personally refused to sell the costumes even if asked to order it. Apparently, the other protests had also had their effect. Spencer Gifts, a major distributor, pulled the costume from its selection and apparently sent an order to stores on its distribution network to stop selling the costumes although it seems some store still insist upon carrying it. However, the item was pulled off the Spencer Gifts website. Those with access to the old link to the item will find “Sold out, this item is no longer available” next to the picture of the costume. While these protests have had their effect, the battle is not over. Several other websites still list and sell the offensive costume. The American TFP is asking its friends and supporters to keep pornography and blasphemy out of Halloween by sending an e-protest to those still selling the “Happy Priest” costume and its companion “Pregnant Nun” portrayal. It is also asking them to make follow-up calls at the numbers below.It only takes a few determined people to make a difference…
To send your protests, please click here
| FutureMemories 800-660-0566 |
Costume Gallery 603-432-4166 |
Fantasy Toyland, Inc. 888-583-3039 |
Bad Planet/Halloween Costume Shop 859-384-6009 |
Shop.com 866-746-7005 |
You can voice your rejection of this insult to the priesthood and the religious. Here is all you have to do!
| 1. Pray for the Success of this campaign |
| 2. Email this page to all your friends. |
| 3. Click here and send an instant protest email. |
More fallout from the coverups.
Sad.
I'm not catholic, but this is in extremely poor taste. What store in their right mind would order such nonsense.
After one drink... I was out'a there.
I guess it would be job endangerment to ask them what they were doing or if they thought they were being funny.
When you click on the link did you notice the demonic face at the top of the page? It's screaming Satanic Store.
lol, that makes me think of an insurance commercial, and the narrator intones "what's important to you?..." and my husband always says to the TV "our eternal souls!"
They sell all sorts of trash insulting every conceivable group, religious and otherwise. Also dirty postcards, "novelty" sex items, Goth stuff, leather stuff, nasty T-shirts . . . they do sell some good items like Lord of the Rings memorabilia and sci-fi/fantasy movie T-shirts, but you have to put up with an amazing amount of dreck. My 18 year old daughter is too embarrassed to go in the place (which is why I was in there buying a LOTR T-shirt for her.)
It's not quite an "adult book store" but it's close.
They have brought it upon themselves....
For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
- 1 Peter 4:17
We dress up as witches and devils. How can we justify not allowing them to dress up as priests and nuns?
Yeah, you didn't quite get it, but my point was that they ARE witches and devils.
Ok, got it now..
Did you tell them that you thought their costumes were disrespectful, and that was the reason you were leaving early?
Spencer's has been around for probably 20-25 years. They used to be more of a "head shop" type place, but that is so passe' . . . I was surprised at some of the Goth and really raunchy novelties the last time I was in, haven't been back (you can find most of the good stuff on the internet these days).
I'm immune anyhow (I've been in the justice system for donkey's years, and I've seen stuff compared to which the items in Spencer's are sweetness and light), so I'd rather I went in there than my daughter. She is most definitely NOT case-hardened . . . I think those of us who have to troll in the depths protect our children more than most.
There are many, many more priests who are and have been faithful to their vows and who work tirelessly for their parishes than there are priests who have been a scandal for the Church.
To generalize all priests in this way is to do a disservice to those who are faithful and it also distorts the truth.
Just your opinion, of course. And yes, my mileage does vary.
I have no doubt that this sort of sleazy merchandise would appear on the scene, regardless of the unfortunate cases which have victimized the good priests, who largely outnumber the fallen ones.
Sleaze is sleaze, with are without "cover-ups" as an excuse for merchandizing it. And nuns and priests have been ridiculed for as long as I can remember--which is a long time.
Bad parents don't mean that all parents are bad.
Bad kids don't mean all kids are bad.
Bad policemen don't mean all policemen are bad.
And bad priests don't mean all priests are bad.
How odd.
When I change some of the links to google which are presented in this topic from being Catholic-themed "costume" to "islamic costume" or "jihadist costume", suddenly no halloween costumes are presented. I wonder why that may be??
You did not address the question of stewardship. As you stated one can get anything on the internet. Do you purchase clothes in Abercrombie and Fitch? Teens love Victoria"s Secret. I am quite aware of just how hard it is to be counter cultural. We homeschool.
Spencer's has always been a borderline trashy "novelty" store, about the only reason anybody decent would go in there is for a gag gift (you put the gloss on 'gag' that you like.)
I used to buy from A&F back when they were a real outdoor store, in NYC and later in Atlanta. Had the opportunity to meet the great professional hunter Peter Capstick at an autograph session (we all went out for a beer, the crowd was pretty thin. A&F was losing the flyfishing and hunting crowd even then.) Haven't darkened the door since their switch to soft porn. I do have this really cool A&F knockoff shirt though:
Victoria's Secret I would have about as much use for as bosoms on an owl -- I'm a horsey, doggy, tomboy sort of person, my tastes run to Ariat boots and a good dove coat . . . my daughter doesn't care for it either, we all buy our underpinnings at Target.
I have never seen anything directly intended to insult Muslims at a Spencers. Granted plenty of their merchandise would provoke an uproar, but they do not go out of their way insult Muslims the way they attack Christians or Jews.
ROE, no one even so much as implied all your priests are bad. If anyone is painting with a broad brush, it's you.
I see little or no reason to defend the indefensible. That includes the coverups as well as the predators.
And who do you see doing that? I think all Catholic freepers are disgusted by the whole affair; none of us are "defending the indefensible".
We are defending the good and holy priests we know, men who have given their life to serve God's people. They no more deserve to be trashed along with the molesters than your minister deserves to be trashed because Jimmy Swaggart was caught with a prostitute.
Thanks, Campion.
I am familiar with the methodology of repeated references to predatory/pedophile priests. Whether it's contrived or not begs the question; it still achieves the same concept: priest=bad.
I'm ready for the priest=good.
I've been privileged to know so many, many good ones--men who have been awesome examples.
I'm not Catholic either, but am repelled by this. Yeah, some Catholics do bad stuff, just like in any religion. I can't subscribe to the churches doctrines, but this is beyond disgusting and totally unacceptable.
Click here to protest now!
Costume Intolerance Unmasked
All it takes is polite determination. The American TFP’s latest protest proves once again that protests can and do work when people get involved. The American TFP web site organized an email and phone protest to participating stores and web sites manifesting “disgust and vehement protest” for a portrayal “offensive to all Catholics who hold the Catholic priesthood and all religious in utmost esteem.”
Successful Protest
Upon hearing from consumers, many managers immediately took the costumes off their shelves and websites. Others were not as cooperative. Among those respecting Catholic beliefs was Spencer Gifts, a major distributor, which pulled the costume from its selection and website and apparently sent an order to its stores to pull it from selections. Spirit Halloween is also not selling it on their website.
SHOP.COM, an Internet shopping mall with over 1, 000 shops, took notice of the protest and removed the costume from its site. “If you see items like this in the future amongst the 1000 stores on our site, please notify us,” the manager said in an email. After a complaint, one mall manager asked the manager of a recently opened Halloween store to take action and “was very accommodating in removing the items mentioned.” Others who have talked to managers report similar success.
Toleration not Tolerated
While some have respected their Catholic consumers by pulling the blasphemous costume from their stocks, others are far from accommodating. Protesters who have expressed themselves politely to distributors have been dismayed by some responses that have offended and personally attack those exercising their right to protest. One particular distributor found the irreverent costume “funny” and even called protesters “followers of Satan.” Blatant attacks on the Catholic Church left no doubt where the distributor stood.
Such is typical of a kind of liberalism that proclaims intolerance in the name of tolerance. When any evil is opposed, those defending any Christian values are called “intolerant” toward those who are intolerant. In the case of these Halloween costumes, one should call it what it is: Intolerance unmasked. Many have already pulled the item. Our protests have met with success! It is not too late to send another protest to those who are still carrying and listing the costume by sending an e-protest to those still selling the “Happy Priest” costume and its companion “Pregnant Nun” portrayal.
You can still voice your rejection of this insult to the priesthood and the religious. Here is all you have to do!
| 1. Pray for the Success of this campaign |
| 2. Email this page to all your friends. |
| 3. Click here and send an instant protest email. |
Sounds like something out of an Aristocrat's costume ball or a Carnival celebration of 300 years ago. Amazing, however, how Halloween has gone from a kiddie holiday to a day of debauchery.
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