Wal-Mart goes Wicca

[Amelia]

Wiccans, RFID, Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart goes Wicca

By Judi McLeod

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

Canada Free Press

The five and dime department store of the past is where your mother treated you to balloons and lollipops. Now you can buy books at the five and dime that teach you how to cast a spell on mother.

Wal-Mart, the company that put Dead Peasant Life Insurance on the map, is going Wicca.

Dead Peasant Life Insurance is the loathsome practice of taking life insurance on people without their knowledge and callously cashing in on the policy at the time of their death. Wal-Mart was defendant in five putative class-action lawsuits because of its Dead Peasant Life Insurance policies on unwitting employees. Three of the lawsuits were pending in Texas as recently as last April.

It’s not as much fun for Mom to take her brood to the department store anymore. Along with the Barbie dolls and Tonka Toys, 100 items for Wicca can be found at Wal-Mart.

The Everything Wicca and Witchcraft Book: Unlock the Secrets of Ancient Rituals, Spells, Blessings and Sacred Objects has been slashed from $14.95 to $9.84.

"Always low prices Always is the Wal-Mart mantra.

The Witch Book: The Encyclopedia of Witchcraft, Wicca and Neo-Paganism can be had for $49.50.

There’s Wicca for Beginners and The Witch Next Door: Separating Fact from Fiction about Witchcraft, Wicca, Goddess Worship and Neo-Paganism.

(And you thought your next-door neighbour was only a tad eccentric.)

There are people who have had encounters with wiccans, wizards, covens, cults and the magic, and their experiences are captured in a book of the same title.

If you’re not getting what you’re looking for out of Bible classes at the church you attend, there’s The Wicca Bible: The Definitive Guide to Magic and the Craft.

The Wal-Mart of all things Wicca only includes one anti-Wicca book, Protecting Your Teen from Today’s Witchcraft: A Parent’s Guide to Confronting Wicca and the Occult.

If you’re a newcomer to the world of Wicca, there’s the inevitable Wicca & Witchcraft for Dummies.

Wal-Mart’s competitor in the United States, Target, is starting its own RFID (Radio Frequency IDentification) testing in Texas and has barred Salvation Army bell ringers at Christmas time.

Oh, for the days when the closest thing to witches that could be found down at the local department store was the witch’s costume you bought for Halloween.

[Jeannieb43]

"Taking out a life insurance on somebody without their knowledge....

and cashing in on the policy at the time of their death...."

Both of these are very difficult if not impossible to do, nowadays.

First of all, an insurance company will not write a policy on someone unless you have "an insurable interest" in that person's life. In other words, unless you are a blood relative, or unless you are a business partner with investments at risk, etc. You can't just pick a person out of the phone directory and expect to get insurance on their life.

Second, in order to pay a claim, the insurance company must first be furnished with a copy of the death certificate. Death certificates are much more difficult to obtain these days, because of privacy laws. I once had a client who could not even get a copy of the death certificate of her ex-husband without paying a private investigator to obtain it. County records are much less available to the public than previously.

So, it strains credulity to think that these things are available for sale at WalMart.

[Bravus]

I think the confusion arises because the article is poorly written. It tries to swipe Wal-Mart on three different grounds:

1. Doing the 'Dead Peasants Insurance' thing to its own employees (presumably on the grounds that it has an interest in them)

2. Selling books on Wicca

3. Using RFID (radio frequency ID) tags on products

It's interesting to me because (1) would usually occur in a rant from the Left, (2) from the Right and (3) from the libertarian/privacy types.

It'd be clearer if the writer stuck to one topic per rant, or else delineated between them more clearly.

[cricket]

Any publicly owned bookstore will sell the same stuff. It's a profit-driven world!

[Bravus]

BTW, I think there are excellent grounds to dislike WalMart, don't get me wrong: its pathetic wages and horrible work conditions, the fact that it chose to close a million dollar store in Canada rather than let the employees unionise, the fact that it tends to drive smaller family stores out of business in communities, etc. (the founder is allegedly Christian - must have missed that whole 'the workman is worthy of his hire' text...) As Chrys says, dunning a bookstore for selling books doesn't make a lot of sense.

[cricket]

Wal-Mart Buys Almost 60,000 of The Passion of Love From Adventist Printer

By the end of August 2004, shoppers will be able to stop by their local Wal-Mart to pick up The Passion of Love, which is compiled from 13 of the last chapters of The Desire of Ages. The book was produced and printed by the privately owned printing company Remnant Publications, and it will soon be available in both English and Spanish at Wal-Mart stores around the country, according to David Berthiaume, Remnant's literature evangelism coordinator. The Anderson Group, which is responsible for placing books in the Wal-Mart stores, has ordered more than 50,000 English and approximately 9,000 Spanish copies of The Passion of Love. Berthiaume added that Wal-Mart has also shown interest in placing more Ellen G. White books in their stores, if The Passion of Love sells well.

"Since the release of Mel Gibson's movie, The Passion of the Christ, doors have been opened around the world for sharing the gospel," said Dwight Hall, president of Remnant Publications, located in Coldwater, Michigan. "Here in America our church has capitalized on this opportunity by using the last chapters of The Desire of Ages in the form of mini-books and pamphlets to spread the truth about Christ's love for the world."

According to Remnant Publications spokesperson Judy Jennings, since March 2004 a total of more than 1.3 million copies of the book have been sold to churches, conferences, and individuals throughout the U. S. and 18 other countries. There are now plans to translate The Passion of Love into French and Arabic.--AR.

[Amelia]

The reason I posted this (and I went with the assumption that others knew this) is because WM has always been about selling only those things that are wholesome to children etc. Many other items have been banned from the store on these grounds. So this made my eyebrows raise a tad.

[aldona]

We (and I include other western nations like Australia and Britain as well as the US) live in a society full of people who follow all different kinds of religions, as well as many who do not follow any religion. General stores like Wal-Mart and Borders are there to cater to all of them, not just to us Christians.

If we get upset about the shops stocking books about Wicca, then we should also remove Bibles and books about Christian topics.

If we are pleased to see Adventist books in Wal-Mart, then we should also be pleased if they stock books from other religions.

Either public book stores should make information available about all religions, or none at all. We cannot have it both ways. We can't promote "freedom of religious expression, but only for those we agree with."

aldona

[Amelia]

Ahhh thankyou Dougie. I did not know that.

[Dr. Shane]

I agree with Sister Aldona. Walmart is in the business of meeting demand. Unlike Hollywood, Walmart does not have an agenda they wish to push on the world. Walmart simply supplies what the world demands. As Sister Aldona put it, "If we are pleased to see Adventist books in Wal-Mart, then we should also be pleased if they stock books from other religions."

Walmart has proven to be a great blessing to thousands and thousands of the poor. Because of Walmart many of the poor have microwaves, fashionable clothing, shoes, music, movies and electronics that they would not have otherwise been able to afford. The poor class which use to only be able to afford to shop at used merchandise stores, now can afford to buy new at Walmart.

One of my good friends earns only $700/month and has three children. His wife stays home and takes care of the two youngest while the older one is at school. A couple of years ago he mentioned to me that he would like to buy a DVD player but couldn't afford it. He was not complaining but rather sharing how he is sastisfied with the life that God has given him and although he would like some things he can't afford, is happy without them. Well at the time the cheapest DVD players were about $100. Since then Walmart has started carrying a smaller DVD player that sells for $38. Last time I was in his home I noticed he had purchased that model for his family.

If Walmart and other big box stores didn't exist, that $38 DVD player would be at least $80 at the mom & pop stores. Mom & pop stores just don't do the volume of business that puts them in a position to negociate the prices. Moreover, Walmart ships all its merchandise so they don't have to pay a frieght company. They eliminate the middle man. The mom & pop stores must buy a product from a wholesaler. Walmart buys directly from the factory and often dictates to the factory how much they are going to pay. If the factory doesn't like it, Walmart goes to their competitor with the offer. The result is that poor people can afford a better lifestyle.

While Walmart has put some mom & pop retailers out of business, they have created a business environment that overflows into the surronding area. Anytime Walmart decides to build a new store, all the property in the surrounding area increases in value. Drycleaners, resturaunts, mechanic garages, fitness centers, car lots, furniture stores, medical clinics, night clubs, convience stores, military recruiting stations and many others all benefit from a Walmart in the neighborhood.