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Celebrating Christmas by other names
Nativity plays are out, carol services are off-limits in mixed institutions, Christmas lights are now called "winter" lights, Christmas greetings have been replaced by "season's" greetings, and what used to be Christmas sales in high street stores are being increasingly referred to as "winter" or "season's" sales.
Christmas parties are no longer simply Christmas parties but pretend to celebrate all religious festivals on the year's calendar. The invitation for the London-based Foreign Press Association's Christmas Party this year advised invitees to "read for Christmas" a host of other religious occasions such as Eid, Diwali, and the Jewish festival of Hunukkah
Can it, really, get more politically correct than this? And even as I write this a school in North London has provoked controversy by cancelling a nativity play and replacing it with a "seasonal celebration" of all faiths. Critics say they have no objection to children being exposed to other faiths but does it have to be at the cost of their own religion?
"I think it is right that children should be aware of other world faiths, but the culture in this country is Christian as far as I understand it," said a priest reacting to the school's decision.
In a joint letter to a newspaper, Anjum Anwar of the Lancashire Council of Mosques and Chris Chivers of Blackburn Cathedral, voiced their concern over what they described as "inappropriate responses to a pluralistic landscape."
"In just the last few days, the two of us have encountered a senior citizen ... who was understandably upset to have been told that Christmas lights had now to be referred to as `winter' lights, as well as a host of Preston's citizens who, with good reason, were irritated by a civic leader's decision that an annual carol concert would not take place this December but be replaced by a multicultural, candlelit `event' in January," they said.
In recent years, such protests around this time of the year have become common. No doubt, often, things are exaggerated and there is a tendency to pick on the most extreme of cases, which are then sought to be portrayed as the norm. But the fact remains that there is an increasing and misplaced emphasis on multiculturalism in a way that does it more harm than good. What is particularly absurd is justifying such "secular" gestures in the name of minority "sensitivities" suggesting, for example, that children from other faiths would be "offended" if they were to be forced to sit through a nativity play; or that a mixed neighbourhood would not like to enjoy Christmas lights. It shows just how far removed Britain's Christian liberal elite is from reality. If it were to step out of its ivory tower, it would be surprised to discover the number of non-Christian homes and these include Hindu and Muslim homes, especially those with small children where a Christmas tree is almost de rigueur. There are any number of secular non-Christian families who may not care much for their own festivals but happily join in the Christmas festivities.
Any genuine effort to promote secularism or avoid imposing the majority community's religion on others is welcome. But gestures, driven by a skewed sense of political correctness, not only do not help but risk fuelling the right-wing propaganda that the government and its liberal allies are forever "appeasing" the minorities. This is already happening in America where the Christian Right has launched a noisy campaign accusing liberals of declaring a "war on Christmas."
An organisation called the American Family Association claims to have got 600,000 people to sign a boycott petition against a major chain store because its advertisements refer to Christmas holidays simply as "Happy Holidays." A number of other leading American stores are also reported to be facing the wrath of Christian conservatives for calling Christmas sales by other names.
According to a report in The Independent, local radio and TV show hosts are talking up the controversy, and there is even a book out with the tell-tale title The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban Sacred Christmas Holiday is Worse Than You Thought.
The paper said that even President George W. Bush is under attack for sending out Christmas cards wishing people a happy "Holiday Season" instead of Christmas. "I threw out my White House card as soon as I got it," one angry Conservative media figure told The Washington Post.
Faced with a shrill campaign, starring some of President Bush's own Republican Party supporters, the White House has been forced to explain that its Christmas cards carried secular greetings simply because they were sent to people of all faiths.
But the controversy continues to flourish with hardline Christian groups and their liberal baiters engaged in a bitter war of words on the issue. In a bizarre twist, Dennis Hastert, the Republican Speaker of the House (of Representatives) is insisting that a tree outside Congress should be called Capitol Christmas Tree, not a holiday tree, according to a British newspaper report.
In Britain, things have not come to this yet. But it does not take fashions long to travel across the Atlantic, and already the British equivalent of the American Right is up in arms.
"They say Christianity is at the bottom of a pile of religions in the multi-faith approach followed by the school, which does not even list Easter in its calendar," it said.
Authorities in multi-faith schools may be right in underlining the need for a "pluralistic" approach to religion, but is cancelling nativity plays and carol services, which are such an integral part of Christmas festivities, the way to go about it? It is almost like ordering the lights to be put out on Diwali on the ground that such overt celebration of a Hindu festival might "offend" other faiths.
Privately, the more grown-up liberals agree that there is unnecessary "coyness" about celebrating Christmas in a Christian country.
"After all, Britain is a Christian country and don't forget that for all the pretence about religious parity it is only on Christmas day that there is a government holiday while on all other religious festivals it is business as usual," one commentator said.
Despite the falling church attendance and the growing indifference to religion, more than 70 per cent Britons described themselves as Christians in the 2001 census. And, as Messrs Anwar and Chivers argued in their letter, Christians had a right to demand that one of their most important festivals was properly "acknowledged" for its religious significance just as followers of other faiths wanted to see their religious festivals recognised.
Moreover, while it is true that Britain has a far more relaxed attitude to religion than America, and even some European countries, it does have strong religious traditions. Let us not forget that officially Britain is a Christian nation where, as Foreign Secretary Jack Straw pointed out recently, Parliament opens with Anglican prayers each day, and state schools are obliged to hold a broadly Christian assembly every morning.
Mr. Straw reminded an audience of media celebrities, politicians, and writers that contrary to the common perception the roots of religion ran deep in Britain, as indeed in most Western societies.
And, of course, the Queen to whom all Britons irrespective of their faith owe a common allegiance is the supreme head of the Church of England.
So, shall we stop being coy about Christmas? ![]()
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Celebrating Christmas by other names
Hasan Suroor
| In Britain, there is an increasing and misplaced emphasis on multiculturalism in a way that does it more harm than good. |
SO, IS it Christmas? Or is it not Christmas? Many bewildered Britons are asking this question as, in a new wave of political correctness, anything that seems like "imposing" a Christian celebration on religious minorities is being replaced by a variety of multicultural euphemisms. Some local councils and government schools are going to absurd lengths to play down the religious aspect of
Christmas in order they claim not to "offend" ethnic communities such as Jews, Hindus, and Muslims.
Nativity plays are out, carol services are off-limits in mixed institutions, Christmas lights are now called "winter" lights, Christmas greetings have been replaced by "season's" greetings, and what used to be Christmas sales in high street stores are being increasingly referred to as "winter" or "season's" sales.
Christmas parties are no longer simply Christmas parties but pretend to celebrate all religious festivals on the year's calendar. The invitation for the London-based Foreign Press Association's Christmas Party this year advised invitees to "read for Christmas" a host of other religious occasions such as Eid, Diwali, and the Jewish festival of Hunukkah
Can it, really, get more politically correct than this? And even as I write this a school in North London has provoked controversy by cancelling a nativity play and replacing it with a "seasonal celebration" of all faiths. Critics say they have no objection to children being exposed to other faiths but does it have to be at the cost of their own religion?
"I think it is right that children should be aware of other world faiths, but the culture in this country is Christian as far as I understand it," said a priest reacting to the school's decision.
In a joint letter to a newspaper, Anjum Anwar of the Lancashire Council of Mosques and Chris Chivers of Blackburn Cathedral, voiced their concern over what they described as "inappropriate responses to a pluralistic landscape."
"In just the last few days, the two of us have encountered a senior citizen ... who was understandably upset to have been told that Christmas lights had now to be referred to as `winter' lights, as well as a host of Preston's citizens who, with good reason, were irritated by a civic leader's decision that an annual carol concert would not take place this December but be replaced by a multicultural, candlelit `event' in January," they said.
In recent years, such protests around this time of the year have become common. No doubt, often, things are exaggerated and there is a tendency to pick on the most extreme of cases, which are then sought to be portrayed as the norm. But the fact remains that there is an increasing and misplaced emphasis on multiculturalism in a way that does it more harm than good. What is particularly absurd is justifying such "secular" gestures in the name of minority "sensitivities" suggesting, for example, that children from other faiths would be "offended" if they were to be forced to sit through a nativity play; or that a mixed neighbourhood would not like to enjoy Christmas lights. It shows just how far removed Britain's Christian liberal elite is from reality. If it were to step out of its ivory tower, it would be surprised to discover the number of non-Christian homes and these include Hindu and Muslim homes, especially those with small children where a Christmas tree is almost de rigueur. There are any number of secular non-Christian families who may not care much for their own festivals but happily join in the Christmas festivities.
Any genuine effort to promote secularism or avoid imposing the majority community's religion on others is welcome. But gestures, driven by a skewed sense of political correctness, not only do not help but risk fuelling the right-wing propaganda that the government and its liberal allies are forever "appeasing" the minorities. This is already happening in America where the Christian Right has launched a noisy campaign accusing liberals of declaring a "war on Christmas."
An organisation called the American Family Association claims to have got 600,000 people to sign a boycott petition against a major chain store because its advertisements refer to Christmas holidays simply as "Happy Holidays." A number of other leading American stores are also reported to be facing the wrath of Christian conservatives for calling Christmas sales by other names.
According to a report in The Independent, local radio and TV show hosts are talking up the controversy, and there is even a book out with the tell-tale title The War on Christmas: How the Liberal Plot to Ban Sacred Christmas Holiday is Worse Than You Thought.
The paper said that even President George W. Bush is under attack for sending out Christmas cards wishing people a happy "Holiday Season" instead of Christmas. "I threw out my White House card as soon as I got it," one angry Conservative media figure told The Washington Post.
Faced with a shrill campaign, starring some of President Bush's own Republican Party supporters, the White House has been forced to explain that its Christmas cards carried secular greetings simply because they were sent to people of all faiths.
But the controversy continues to flourish with hardline Christian groups and their liberal baiters engaged in a bitter war of words on the issue. In a bizarre twist, Dennis Hastert, the Republican Speaker of the House (of Representatives) is insisting that a tree outside Congress should be called Capitol Christmas Tree, not a holiday tree, according to a British newspaper report.
In Britain, things have not come to this yet. But it does not take fashions long to travel across the Atlantic, and already the British equivalent of the American Right is up in arms.
"There is no room for Christmas at multi-faith school," screamed The Daily Telegraph last week quoting anonymous parents of a
London school as saying that while their children were learning all about "Diwali and Eid" they were not being told enough about Christian festivals.
"They say Christianity is at the bottom of a pile of religions in the multi-faith approach followed by the school, which does not even list Easter in its calendar," it said.
Authorities in multi-faith schools may be right in underlining the need for a "pluralistic" approach to religion, but is cancelling nativity plays and carol services, which are such an integral part of Christmas festivities, the way to go about it? It is almost like ordering the lights to be put out on Diwali on the ground that such overt celebration of a Hindu festival might "offend" other faiths.
Privately, the more grown-up liberals agree that there is unnecessary "coyness" about celebrating Christmas in a Christian country.
"After all, Britain is a Christian country and don't forget that for all the pretence about religious parity it is only on Christmas day that there is a government holiday while on all other religious festivals it is business as usual," one commentator said.
Despite the falling church attendance and the growing indifference to religion, more than 70 per cent Britons described themselves as Christians in the 2001 census. And, as Messrs Anwar and Chivers argued in their letter, Christians had a right to demand that one of their most important festivals was properly "acknowledged" for its religious significance just as followers of other faiths wanted to see their religious festivals recognised.
Moreover, while it is true that Britain has a far more relaxed attitude to religion than America, and even some European countries, it does have strong religious traditions. Let us not forget that officially Britain is a Christian nation where, as Foreign Secretary Jack Straw pointed out recently, Parliament opens with Anglican prayers each day, and state schools are obliged to hold a broadly Christian assembly every morning.
Mr. Straw reminded an audience of media celebrities, politicians, and writers that contrary to the common perception the roots of religion ran deep in Britain, as indeed in most Western societies.
"In Western countries, religion plays a much greater part in public and private life than is often assumed ... I remember being surprised to find that one of my roles as Home Secretary was to swear in new Anglican bishops at the Palace. Each day the British Parliament opens with Anglican prayers; and each day those state schools which have not specifically opted out are required to hold a broadly Christian act of collective worship," he said.
And, of course, the Queen to whom all Britons irrespective of their faith owe a common allegiance is the supreme head of the Church of England.
So, shall we stop being coy about Christmas?
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