Orginally posted Nov 07
Below is an article that I've read on Yahoo a couple of weeks ago.
“Christmas should be downgraded unless other religious festivals are marked on an even footing, a Government think-tank has said.
The Institute of Public Policy Research has suggested various ideas to make the UK more multicultural.
It also wants “national culture” barriers to be torn down to help immigrants settle into the UK.
In a report due to be published in coming weeks, the organisation said: “If we are going to continue 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 major religious festivals too.
“Even-handedness dictates that we provide public recognition to minority cultures and traditions.”
It emerged in 2006 that three out of four employers were not putting up Christmas decorations in the workplace for fear of offending staff of other cultures.”
Few things really aggravate me enough to post messages like this but this one has compelled me to do so.
What on earth is this ‘institute’ trying to do? Do they think this is going to solve the cultural divides that exist in our cities, towns and villages? The answer is no, it will make things worse.
Britain is, largely, a Christian nation. Christmas is a national holiday not only celebrated by Christians but also the British as a people. Immigration, it seems, has spiralled out of control under the current government and for some reason the evil monster called ‘Political Correctness’ has reared its ugly head again and inspired some utterly stupid reactions.
The victim in this possible scenario is the ‘downgrading’ of Christmas. Why? For fear of offending our Muslim, Jewish, etc friends. Why should we change our holiday practises to satisfy a minority who have come to live in our country?
Why would a Muslim find Christmas decorations offensive? If they don’t believe in the birth of Christ then that is fine, but they must respect that others do. The bottom line is, if a person of a different religion decides they want to live in this country, then they should expect to experience the religious celebrations of the country. They don’t have to take part but happen they must.
Do you think that the Muslims would downgrade their religious celebrations to satisfy Christians or Buddhists? No, absolutely not.
I have absolutely no problem with any religion (with perhaps the exception of that new one, what do they call it? sci-fi-ology? :-p) and I believe they should be allowed to celebrate their holidays as they wish, but certainly not at the expense of our own. I, myself, am not a religious man. I don’t go to church, and I have no idea if Jesus existed or not) but my family have celebrated Christmas my whole life. It’s a time of joy and goodwill. It promotes the bonds between family and friends if the religious aspect is not acknowledged.
I would like to know who pays the wages of the Institute of Public Policy Research and if it’s their full time job. Do they sit in a little cramped office sharpening pencils whilst they think about what research and statistics they can generate? Maybe they have a spreadsheet and everything?
Perhaps they should be conducting research on why an increasingly large amount of young boys are leaving school with little or no qualifications? Or why youths view ASBO’s as badges of honour?
I think the Institute of Public Policy Research should focus their efforts on worthier issues rather than Britain’s public holidays!
Posts
