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Title: Christmas should be 'downgraded' to help race relations says Labour think tank
Source:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk
URL Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li ... n_page_id=1770&in_page_id=1770
Published: Nov 1, 2007
Author: JAMES CHAPMAN
Post Date: 2007-11-01 07:38:25 by freepatriot32
Keywords: christmas, england, labour party
Views: 857
Comments: 45
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?" 
Nativity scene: Christian celebrations in schools could become a thing of the past 
National celebration: But could Christmas soon be 'downgraded'?
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Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 30.
#1. To: freepatriot32 (#0)
Festivus here we come.
Mongrels R us. mon·grel·ize (mnggr-lz, mng-) tr.v. mon·grel·ized, mon·grel·iz·ing, mon·grel·iz·es To make mongrel in race, nature, or character
Egad, here comes the yearly fray over why Christmas symbols and carols get banned from schools and other public places. I think I'll order in Chinese food for T-Day and be done with all that was Americana :) Signed,
Who is stopping minority religions from expressing their faith? Who is forcing them to sing Christmas Carols? This is absurdity, except that it is a way to start killing off the religion of the majority, the culture of the majority and the ideals and ethics of the still majority. What percentage of the population is Muslim? Jewish? Gives a damn?
...it is a way to start killing off the religion of the majority... How is it doing this? There are over 300,000 churches in the United States, thousands of Christian stores, websites, publications, radio and TV shows, etc. Should religion be given special privileges not afforded to other segments of society? A majority of Americans identify themselves as Christians. So, what? Should there be a national holiday to celebrate Star Wars, with taxpayer-subsidized movie props on government property and plays in government schools? Christianity should have to stand on its own merit and compete in the marketplace of ideas along with everything else.
I wonder what an America without a Christian foundation would have looked like. Something closer to the mess we have today, only for over 200 years?
#32. To: robin (#30)
We may be about to find out....seeing how ZOG says America had a NOAHIDE foundation. Chabad Lubavitch Rabbi to Congress: "Congress Convenes to Fulfill Noahide Commandment http://www.freedom4um.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=62798 "What are the Noahide Laws? NOACHIDE LAWS, the seven laws considered by rabbinic tradition as the minimal moral duties enjoined by the Bible on all men (Sanh. 56–60; Yad, Melakhim, 8:10, 10:12) The seven Noachide laws as traditionally enumerated are: the prohibitions of idolatry, blasphemy, bloodshed, sexual sins, theft, and eating from a living animal, as well as the injunction to establish a legal system (Tosef., Av. Zar. 8:4; Sanh. 56a). Except for the last, all are negative, and the last itself is usually interpreted as commanding the enforcement of the others (Maim. Yad, Melakhim, 9:1). (Encyclopaedia Judaica, "Noahide Laws") Who is an idolator according to the codifier of Judaism, Moses Maimonides? "The Christians are idolaters, and Sunday is their holiday..." (Maimonides, Mishneh Torah, Avoda Zorah 9;4) How does the Judaic "justice" system of double standards handle those accused of disobeying Noahide law (ie. Christian "idolaters")? A non-Jew is put to death on the basis of a decision given by one judge [no jury], and on the basis of testimony given by a single witness, and even if he was not given a proper warning prior to the commission of his offense. He is put to death on the basis of testimony and a decision given by a man but not on the basis of testimony and a decision given by a woman, and the man who testified or decided against him can even be a relative. A Jew can only be put to death by a court of twenty-three judges, and on the basis of the testimony of two male witnesses who are not disqualified from testifying on account of kinship, and after being properly warned against committing the transgression. But none of these rules apply in the case of a non-Jew. (Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 57b, Steinsaltz edition, vol.18, page 110) What happens to those found guilty of disobeying Noahide law in a Judaic kangaroo court? ... violation of any one of the seven laws subjects the Noachide to capital punishment by **** decapitation (Sanh. 57a).(Encyclopaedia Judaica, "Noahide Laws")...." http://www.freedom4um.com/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=62798 Merry Christmas, and OFF WITH YOUR HEAD! As Naugahyde is to leather, so the Noahide Laws are to the Bible. ... NO MEETING WITH GHOSTS. The seven Naugahyde laws can be found here: ... http://www.public-action.com/christmas.html
The notion that the United States is a Christian nation, that is was founded on Christian principles, and that individual freedom is some kind of Christian idea is among the biggest myths ever perpetuated. The Bible isn't even a factual history book. It's nothing but a regurgitation of ancient astrotheology and folklore. If you want to see what a Christian nation looks like then examine the Dark Ages in Europe. In consisted of centuries of military conquest, murder, torture, fear, paranoia, ignorance, deep-seeded hatred, tribalism, and abject squalor. Countless historical records going back to the founding of the English colonies reveal the use (or attempted use) of government force to advance dogma, punish people for sin and vice, tax people to finance ministries, force institutions to close on the Sabbath, etc. Notions of freedom didn't spring forth from these folks. 90% of Americans identify themselves as belonging to one of the many different flavors of Christianity. There are more than two million Americans in prison, over half incarcerated for victimless crimes. Government growth, spending, and corruption is higher now than at any time in history. Over half of Americans receive income from the government. 20% of the American workforce works for the government. The United States has been at war in some part of the world almost every year for the past century. Americans are overwhelmingly ignorant and gullible with an extremely facile and superficial worldview. We're ruled by a Christian president and Congress consisting of mostly Christians. The United States is looking more like a Christian nation every day. Oh, let me guess. The problem is either than they're not real Christians, or that they read the Bible wrong, or something like that, and what we really need is prayer in school and the Ten Commandments posted on every vertical surface in sight, and then all of those problems will go away.
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#4. To: Jethro Tull (#1)
#6. To: Cynicom (#4)
Mr. Internatale
#8. To: Jethro Tull, Cynicom (#6)
#28. To: robin (#8)
#30. To: Alan Chapman (#28)
Replies to Comment # 30. I wonder what an America without a Christian foundation would have looked like. Something closer to the mess we have today, only for over 200 years?
#36. To: robin (#30)
End Trace Mode for Comment # 30.