There’s a saying that old habits die hard, and that’s certainly the case when it comes to the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
First held in New York City back on Thanksgiving Day of 1924, the festival featured a caravan of animals from the Central Park Zoo including bears, elephants, and donkeys. Floats featured nursery rhyme characters such as the “Old Lady Who Lived in a Shoe,” “Little Miss Muffet,” and “Red Riding Hood.” Santa arrived at the 34th Street department store riding in a sleigh pulled by reindeer perched on a mountain of ice.
This year’s edition will certainly feature Santa Claus and a variety of other acts, including ones that reportedly will feature Broadway performers advocating for the promotion and further normalization of the LGBT agenda.
Yet, this won’t be the first time.
Back in 2021, Kim Petras, who was born male, was heralded as the “world’s youngest transsexual” and featured in the parade.
This year, One Million Moms, a ministry within American Family Association, delivered a petition signed by nearly 40,000 people concerned about the department store parade lineup. The group’s caution is well-placed. Plenty of unsuspecting families with children beside them will inevitably tune into the nationally televised spectacle.
Many of us have memories of watching with our families. Growing up on Long Island, we’d go to morning church, stop at the bagel store, and then come home and watch the parade. Santa’s arrival was always an exciting moment when we were young.
Officials at Macy’s were unmoved by the One Million Moms petition and issued the following statement:
For nearly 100 years, the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade has showcased the very best in entertainment, delighting Americans everywhere with the most popular music acts, the best of Broadway, our country’s finest marching bands and dance teams, and giant balloons and floats that capture your imagination.
Every performer and volunteer is there with one mission — to entertain millions of spectators and kick off the holiday season. We look forward to celebrating this iconic Thanksgiving tradition.
Translation: Sorry, but we’re convinced LGBT representation and emphasis are so mainstream that we have no plans to take your deeply held convictions into consideration.
Christian families would be wise to skip the parade altogether and find other ways to celebrate.
“Turkey Trots” and fun runs and walks on Thanksgiving are becoming popular alternatives to the sedentary act of watching a parade on television. Last year, over 750,000 Americans participated in 730 Thanksgiving Day runs. Here in Colorado Springs, our YMCA will host a 5K, distributing t-shirts that proclaim, “Huffin for the Stuffin.”
You don’t need a formal race to get out for a hike or family adventure. Other families may want to visit a nursing home, or maybe do yard work for a neighbor.
Sadly, the Macy’s spectacle has come a long way since 1924, and not in a good way. The popular department store, which was featured in the Christmas classic, “Miracle on 34th Street,” added its famed high-flying balloons in 1927 with the addition of “Felix the Cat.” Incidentally, those early balloons were sometimes lost after being released into the air. One even got accidentally wrapped around an airplane’s wing, sending the craft into a terrifying tailspin.
Metaphorically, that’s what has come of so much of the once family-friendly entertainment tradition that millions have traditionally enjoyed over the years. Woke companies and their enthusiastic agitators have cast their lots with a dangerous and destructive movement determined to undermine and redefine what God has established.
We’re saddened by the slide, but we pray for those who either willingly or unwittingly are advancing the agenda.
Image from Shutterstock.
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