Greek Orthodox Church leaders urge for Lidl boycott

[memory man]

The Greek Orthodox Church said it has encouraged church members to stop buying products from Lidl after it removed crosses from its food packaging.
A spokesman for the Greek Orthodox Church in Athens told The Times that the actions of the company will be discussed at a special meeting of the Holy Synod next month.
The Church told the paper it's using sermons and the internet to ask people to boycott the grocery chain. 
The controversy started early September after Lidl shoppers noticed the company had digitally removed crosses on top of an iconic Greek church on its food packaging.

One Twitter user reacted: "I find the removal of the cross offensive", while another asked: "Why use churches if you take away the cross? Idiotic!"
After many people expressed their anger over the airbrushing, including the UK's most senior Greek Orthodox Church figure, Lidil apologised.
The firm told Premier on 8th September: "We are sincerely sorry for any offence caused by the artwork on our Eridanous product range and can confirm that we will be revising the packaging design as soon as possible."
Lidl claimed it didn’t intend to express an ideological or political stance with its products or product design.


Lidl apologise for erasing crosses from its food packaging

The supermarket chain Lidl has apologised after erasing images of the cross from its food packaging. 

https://www.premierchristianradio.com/N ... dl-boycott

[WHL]

I agree with the Church leaders...putting a photo of a Church on your products, then removing the Cross is a slap in the face for believers, the same as renaming Easter eggs, as chocolate eggs as not to offend other faiths, can you imagine if these company's decided to put a photo of a mosque on their products and then remove the star and crescent...

[Dominic]

Yeah because chocolate eggs feature heavily in Christian scripture.

[WHL]

Yeah because chocolate eggs feature heavily in Christian scripture.

They have nothing to do with the Christian faith, but they have been known as Easter eggs, for ages, so why drop the Easter ...you know it was changed as not to offend other faiths, simple, the same as Christmas was changed by some people to Winter festival.

[Devil]

Yeah because chocolate eggs feature heavily in Christian scripture.

Meeeow

[Dominic]

Yeah because chocolate eggs feature heavily in Christian scripture.

They have nothing to do with the Christian faith, but they have been known as Easter eggs, for ages, so why drop the Easter ...you know it was changed as not to offend other faiths, simple, the same as Christmas was changed by some people to Winter festival.

This is all made up stuff in newspapers. Has anybody anywhere ever met anyone who was actually offended by an easter egg or a christmas tree?

[WHL]

Yeah because chocolate eggs feature heavily in Christian scripture.

They have nothing to do with the Christian faith, but they have been known as Easter eggs, for ages, so why drop the Easter ...you know it was changed as not to offend other faiths, simple, the same as Christmas was changed by some people to Winter festival.

This is all made up stuff in newspapers. Has anybody anywhere ever met anyone who was actually offended by an easter egg or a christmas tree?

Im sure some manufactures have removed the word Easter from the packaging....also some looney left councils have removed Christmas from their greeting cards etc......as for being offended only a few Islamic extremist and the usual PC brigade...the vast majority of people wouldn't.

[Dominic]

I don't think there was any offence at all. The egg manufacturers just figured out they could sell more eggs if they made them less specific.

[PhotoLady]

The Eridanous products have appeared on at least 2 occasions in our local Lidl stores and each time we have bought various items. Never even noticed the cross was missing off the top of the church, but then again, I wasn't looking for it. I was only interested in the food - not the religious aspect of what was on the cover....
I just went to the freezer to see if I could do a double check - but it appears we've eaten it all

[trevnhil]

Wait while next Easter comes round. We will just have Hot Buns, without the Cross

[cyprusmax47]

It was not the idea from Lidl to remove the crosses but from a Marketing Company, as also similar products from Aldi, Edeka, Mueller... crosses from churches were removed. So perhaps the thought was to please millions of Muslim customers of the above mentioned chains which obviously backfired.
On top of it I wonder if the Greek Church in Cyprus is also in the supermarket business beside so many other activities...(banks,beer, cement, hotels, wine, cleaning products...

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/econ ... debts.html

[Varky]

When asked, the vast majority of Muslims do not have any issue whatsoever with the way Christian festivals are celebrated. Nor should they in Christian countries. As WHL says, just the Islamist extremists and those labour luvvies who believe we should all pander to multiculteralism, or more accurately, Islam. Would love to see them get the Greek Ortho church to back down in the same way. Won't be happening anytime soon
Lidl were quite wrong to remove the crosses from the packaging 'so as not to cause offence'; but I think the Greek Ortho Church will be pushing the ball uphill trying to get Cypriots stop shopping at Lidl.

Once again I agree with HiC
I lived in Dubai for 9 years and every year at Xmas time in the Wafi Mall had the biggest Xmas tree I had ever seen. And this in a Muslim country.

In Oman, again a Muslim country, the Sultan once asked something along the lines of "what is this Easter/Xmas all about" and when answered that the Christians celebrated them. As Jesus is a prophet recognised by the Muslim faith he immediately said in that case we will celebrate these dates in Oman.

[Jimgward]

The UK retailers and suppliers have been removing faith from Xmas for years. Try getting a Xmas card from Tescos, or even Card shops, with religious themes...

I’m not a church goer anymore, but most family are. They appreciate nativity scenes on cards and so I buy them, for them. I do have to look hard and my selection is limited. Usually end up with charity cards for good reasons..

[Dominic]

The UK retailers and suppliers have been removing faith from Xmas for years. Try getting a Xmas card from Tescos, or even Card shops, with religious themes...

I’m not a church goer anymore, but most family are. They appreciate nativity scenes on cards and so I buy them, for them. I do have to look hard and my selection is limited. Usually end up with charity cards for good reasons..

But they have been doing so not to avoid offence, but to shift more stock.

The real reason that Christmas and Easter is being written out of the supermarkets, is because the UK is becoming increasingly secular, not due to an influx of foreigners but due to the decision of the indigenous population to stop going to church and believing in the beliefs that their parents and grandparents believed in.

Shops tend to react to what the market desires. If you want more Christianity, be more Christian.

[Band]

Yeah because chocolate eggs feature heavily in Christian scripture.

No, but bunny rabbits do, don't they?

[Band]

The real reason that Christmas and Easter is being written out of the supermarkets, is because the UK is becoming increasingly secular, not due to an influx of foreigners but due to the decision of the indigenous population to stop going to church and believing in the beliefs that their parents and grandparents believed in.

I have to disagree. The vast majority of people may not be practising Christians, but they most definitely celebrate Christmas and Easter and all buy Christmas presents and Easter eggs. The issue is an overdose of political correctness. For some reason there seems to be a desire in the UK to bend over backwards not to offend other religions, that have repeatedly stated that they are not even slightly offended by Christian festivals, given that they all celebrate their own religious festivals without any interference. The UK is a Christian country and should be proud to celebrate that as well as embracing other cultures and religions.

So there!

[Dominic]

The real reason that Christmas and Easter is being written out of the supermarkets, is because the UK is becoming increasingly secular, not due to an influx of foreigners but due to the decision of the indigenous population to stop going to church and believing in the beliefs that their parents and grandparents believed in.

I have to disagree. The vast majority of people may not be practising Christians, but they most definitely celebrate Christmas and Easter and all buy Christmas presents and Easter eggs. The issue is an overdose of political correctness. For some reason there seems to be a desire in the UK to bend over backwards not to offend other religions, that have repeatedly stated that they are not even slightly offended by Christian festivals, given that they all celebrate their own religious festivals without any interference. The UK is a Christian country and should be proud to celebrate that as well as embracing other cultures and religions.

So there!

Perhaps if they celebrated their Christianity by going to Church then the shops would stock more religiously relevant Christmas and Easter produce?

Take Christmas Cards. Most of them will feature robins or snowmen etc, as opposed to Nativity scenes. This is not because card manufacturers don't want to offend Muslims or Jews, who wouldn't necessarily want to buy them anyway. No, it is because the Great British Public want Christmas cards with robins and snowmen on them, rather than Nativity scenes. But don't worry, go into any church and you will be able to buy some.