The Fighting 44s

An encouraging British Reuters article discusses how it’s okay to have Christmas and not the politically-correct non-denominational happy holiday stuff that’s taken the western world by storm in the last decade or so. This multi-religious affirmation of the okayness of Christmas is probably in part a reaction to this article on how a Labour think-tank has stated that Christmas should be “downgraded.”

Hands off Christmas, say religious leaders

By Paul Majendie Mon Dec 10, 11:20 AM ET

LONDON (Reuters) - Hindus, Sikhs and Muslims joined Britain’s equality watchdog Monday in urging Britons to enjoy Christmas without worrying about offending non-Christians.

“It’s time to stop being daft about Christmas. It’s fine to celebrate and it’s fine for Christ to be star of the show,” said Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

“Let’s stop being silly about a Christian Christmas,” he said, referring to a tendency to play down the traditional celebrations of the birth of Christ for fear of offending minorities in multicultural Britain.

Suicide bombings by British Islamists in July 2005 which killed 52 people in London have prompted much soul-searching about religion and integration in Britain, a debate that has been echoed across Europe.

The threat of radical Islam, highlighted by the London attacks, prompted reflection about Britain’s attitude to ethnic minorities and debate about whether closer integration was more important than promoting multiculturalism.

Phillips, reflecting on media reports of schools scrapping nativity plays and local councils celebrating “Winterval” instead of Christmas, feared there might an underlying agenda — using “this great holiday to fuel community tension.”

So he joined forces with leaders of minority faiths to put out a blunt message to the politically correct — Leave Christmas alone.

“Hindus celebrate Christmas too. It’s a great holiday for everyone living in Britain,” said Anil Bhanot, general secretary of the UK Hindu Council.

Sikh spokesman Indarjit Singh said: “Every year I am asked ‘Do I object to the celebration of Christmas?’ It’s an absurd question. As ever, my family and I will send out our Christmas cards to our Christian friends and others.”

Their sentiments were echoed by British Muslim leaders, who were also forthright last week in condemning Sudan for jailing a British teacher for letting her pupils name a teddy bear Mohammad.

Muslim Council of Britain spokesman Shayk Ibrahim Mogra said “To suggest celebrating Christmas and having decorations offends Muslims is absurd. Why can’t we have more nativity scenes in Britain?”

More than 70 percent of Britons — some 41 million — said they were Christians, according to figures from the 2001 census.

Muslims were the largest religious group after Christians — at the time there were 1.6 million Muslims in Britain, while there were over half a million Hindus and Sikhs numbered just over a third of a million.

(Editing by Keith Weir)

Christmas should be ‘downgraded’ to help race relations says Labour think tank

By JAMES CHAPMAN - More by this author » Last updated at 12:56pm on 1st November 2007

Christmas should be downgraded in favour of festivals from other religions to improve race relations, says an explosive report.

Labour’s favourite think-tank says that because it would be hard to “expunge” Christmas from the national calendar, ‘even-handedness’ means public organisations must start giving other religions equal footing.

The leaked findings of its investigation into identity, citizenship and community cohesion also propose:

• “Birth ceremonies”, at which state and parents agree to “work in partnership” to bring up children

• Action to “ensure access” for ethnic minorities to “largely white” countryside

• An overhaul of Britain’s “imperial” honours system

• Bishops being thrown out of the House of Lords

• An end to “sectarian” religious education

• Flying flags other than the Union Jack.

The report by the Institute for Public Policy Research was commissioned when Nick Pearce, now head of public policy at Downing Street, was its director.

IPPR has shaped many Labour policies, including ID cards, bin taxes and road pricing.

The report robustly defends multiculturalism - the idea that different communities should not be forced to integrate but should be allowed to maintain their own culture and identities.

And it says immigrants should be required to acquire some proficiency in English and other aspects of British culture “if - but only if - the settled population is willing to open up national institutions and practices to newcomers and give a more inclusive cast to national narratives and symbols”.

It adds: “Even-handedness dictates that we provide public recognition to minority cultures and traditions.

“If we are going to continue as a nation to mark Christmas - and it would be very hard to expunge it from our national life even if we wanted to - then public organisations should mark other religious festivals too.

“We can no longer define ourselves as a Christian nation, nor an especially religious one in any sense.

“The empire is gone, church attendance is at historically low levels, and the Second World War is inexorably slipping from memory.”

The report, written by IPPR advisers Ben Rogers and Rick Muir, calls on Ministers to launch an “urgent and upfront campaign” promoting a “multicultural understanding of Britishness”.

“Multiculturalism can be shown to provide for a fairer and more liberal society and does not necessarily lead to social division and community conflict, as its critics have claimed,” it says.

Councils must act to “ensure children mix and are able to form friendships with pupils from different backgrounds”.

The report adds: “Any liberal state should recast the civic oaths and national ceremonies, or institutions like Parliament and the monarchy, in a more multi-religious or secular form and make religious education less sectarian.”

The presence of bishops in the House of Lords, for instance, is condemned as an “anachronism” that should be removed.

The system in which parents are required to register a new baby at a register office is dismissed as “purely bureaucratic”.

The occasion should be transformed into a “public rite”, using citizenship ceremonies for immigrants as a model, the report says.

“Parents, their friends and family and the state [would] agree to work in partnership to support and bring up their child.”

Rural Britain, the report complains, “remains a largely white place”.

Much more needs to be done to “ensure access” to the countryside for black and ethnic minority groups, disabled people and children from inner-city areas.

Sayeeda Warsi, the Conservative spokesman on community cohesion, said: “Their comments betray a breathtaking misunderstanding of what it is to be British. These proposals could actually damage cohesion.”

She added: “You don’t build community cohesion by throwing out our history and denying the fundamental contribution Christianity has played and does play to our nation.

“As a British Muslim I can see that - so why others can’t just staggers me.”

And she attacked ceremonies to mark the registration of a baby.

“The thought of Gordon Brown sharing responsibility with me for bringing up my children sends a shiver down my spine. I thought we got rid of communism?”

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 13th, 2007 at 6:56 pm and is filed under News, Politics, Religion & Spirituality. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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