Could you imagine the outcry if thousands of MR members received an e-mail blast from Marriott talking about "The Divine Spirit of the Holy Nativity of our Lord and Savior" while peddling Christmas getaways? Something about this just rubs me the wrong way.

Leveraging religious devotion for personal or corporate gain always makes me a tad bit queasy. Whether they're trying to curry favor of Christians on Christmas, or Muslims on Ramadan, I will criticize the people doing it.

I mean, tell me if I'm wrong. I may be way off base here. And I'm the last person to be politically correct. But something strikes me as very odd about this blast. It just sounded like phony piety to me.

Plus, here's the kicker: I'm not Muslim. It's rather odd they sent me this message, worded as if it was a trip being organized by my buddy at the local mosque or something (i.e., the assumption that I'm Muslim and celebrate the month of Ramadan as a Holy month (with a capital "H"), believing the month itself has a, quote, "divine spirit").

Just extremely poor form in my opinion. I would suggest that Marriott stop sending e-mail blasts with religious overtones, regardless of the religion.

**dives into flameproof bunker**