Downgrade christmas

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Festivals from other religions should be treated equally alongside Christmas, which should be downplayed to improve community cohesion in Britain, according to a report by a major government think tank.

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I am looking for more on this.

I will not be downgrading christmas at all, In my house it will be celebrated as it has every year so far and will be celebrated in full every year in the future. Would any other country downgrade their celebrations for other people who decide to recide in their country? I think not. This country has gone MAD. If from the UK how do you feel about this? And if you are not would you find your country downgrading their celebrations of there main religion for other people?

I think Melbourne Militia sums it up nicely:

Originally posted by Melbourne_Militia

. . . Have a look at meadow heights in Melbourne, next to Broadmeadows. I have heard first hand from people moving out of these areas that the local Muslim community is wanting to buy a whole residential block of homes, then demolish them and build a huge mosque there. WTF?
Australian kids cant even have bacon in their Macdonalds or KFC burgers in these suburbs.
[And] Sudanese just plain 'ol have no respect for the law down here.
Its easy to call Australians racists, but mate, we give everyone a fair go here, but if you blatantly disrespect this country, its people and way of life, go home!

If we were to go to some of the countries these immigrants come from, there is no way in hell we could make it even a little bit like Australia, so why are we bending over backwards to suck up to these violent and un-assimilating minorities?

If I were to go to another country, I would not expect that country to change it's ways just for me. If I can't eat bacon there or celebrate Christmas or wear shorts, that's more than fine. But for those same standards to by applied in this country when they come here . . . well, that's just not on. If *they* want to come here, they can live by the rules of this nation.

reply to post by watch_the_rocks


I am glad its not just me who feels like this. Because at times it does due to the fact that people feel if they air their feelings they feel they are viewed as racist or are told that they are not "PC". Something really needs to be done about this and I sometimes feel that you really need everyone to get together and make a stand at the government and tell them exactly how the majority does feel and that this madness must end NOW!

I am just brainstorming, but is it possible that this catering to the wishes, is more of an attempt to buy time?

Since the global war is on terror, mainly Islamic radicals, could this be an appeasement to those who follow Islam attempting to quell more radicalism?

In the US, while we enjoy separation of church & state, recently we have had issues which I would consider catering to Muslims.

Just from memory, there is a university in Michigan or Wisconsin where footbaths were going to be installed at the request of Muslims. Others escape my mind at the moment but I think there are more.

Personally, I have no problems with anyone's choice of religion or lack of religion, I respect everyone's right to choose. I do have a problem with the government/courts deciding what can and what can't be displayed in public places Christmas, some of the decisions seem hypocritical to me, but this is only my opinion.

I just wonder if our governments are just buying time to prevent more muslims from becoming upset and jumping to radicalism.

IMO, catering to the wishes of one religious group while choking out another's is a violation of the separation of church & state, at least in the US, I am not clear on this issue in the UK or other areas of the world.

It can actually be claimed as a victory for the radicals.

If I am incorrect in my assessments, I invite you to help inform me of my missteps, like I said earlier, this is just what is in my brain, sometimes my mind might hold views or information which is incorrect.

Originally posted by JacKatMtn
I am just brainstorming, but is it possible that this catering to the wishes, is more of an attempt to buy time?

I agree, but for different reasons.

My opinion is that the appeasements are done in order to further divide the people and further highlight the differences Muslims have with other people. I mean think about it, if it were not done, it would not be an issue. If it were not an issue, it would not make the news. If it didn't make the news, Muslims wouldn't be in the spotlight.

Why highlight the Muslims? It goes back to the War on Terror -- to further radicalise those who were initially on the fence. If you keep on calling Muslims terrorists or make that sort of association, eventually they're going to come out and say enough is enough. Like "fine, damned if I do, damned if I don't. I might as well go out with a bang." Pun intended.

Of course, that's just my conspiratorial mind working. Personally, I believe in the old maxim -- when in Rome...

We've been celebrating 'christmas' in the UK for 12,000 years ..... Very little of what we do at christmas has anything whatsoever to do with religion, and most of that is pagan and other religions rather than christianity (I think the midnight mass is about the only truely christian thing?).

This pandering to islam seems intended mainly to alienate muslims and turn the rest of us against them ....... hmmm conspiracy anyone?

[edit on 14-11-2007 by Essan]

reply to post by Beachcoma



Your angle makes sense to me too, I am sure it is the result of some elitists thinking they know what is best for us, as usual.

Kind of like that LA plan to monitor the Muslim community, while some may say it is good to keep a close eye on them, in my opinion it will further alienate the community.

We ask for cooperation in helping to identfy extremists, who btw are a very small percentage of the religion, then turn around and tell them we are going to monitor your community. Where's the trust?

What's next? Internment camps? All in the name of homeland security?

Too bad most citizens are concerned with plasma screens, i-phones, XBox, the next Britney Spears moment, and other benign things instead of paying attention to important global events happening before our eyes.

Originally posted by JacKatMtn
Kind of like that LA plan to monitor the Muslim community, while some may say it is good to keep a close eye on them, in my opinion it will further alienate the community.

Exactly! Plus all the little things, the constant need for the media to highlight every single act of violence perpetrated by Muslims while downplaying those by others (this thread comes to mind. Also, look at one of the comments), the portrayal of Muslims as terrorists in movies and TV shows.... it all adds up. Of course this could just be the hostile media effect acting on me, but if it has an effect on me, what about other Muslims? What effect does it have on those with a shorter fuse than I? Or those with a lesser degree of self-control?

They'd blow themselves up along with others. That's what I think happened to those kids who caused the 7/7 London Bombings.

This whole business of singling out Muslims consistently and constantly (be it overtly or subtly) can achieve two things:

(a) alienate Muslims as we've already discussed
(b) change non-Muslims perception to thinking that we're generally violent

Both effects you can see happening, even here on ATS. You can see that most Muslims stay away from topics that discuss Muslims and you can see that some people will assume that any major violence is caused by Muslim (which you can see from the comment I mentioned about in the linked thread, page 2).

This is the real conspiracy, in my humble opinion. We're the new 'red scare'. We're the new 'external enemy'.

A few years ago, when I lived in the midlands, birmingham city council wanted to change the name of christmas to "winter festival" or some such nonsense.

You want to know who they took notice of for standing up for christmas?
Not the indigenous population.
It was only when certain ethnic groups kicked up a fuss that the council backed off.

I think that this though, is more to do with the findings of a government appointed think tank - their conclusion was that other religions should have holidays etc to celebrate their religious festivals - I'd have to look it up again to be 100% sure.

I see a lot of the press has put a negative spin on this, and maybe they are right - after all, all religions are allowed to celebrate their festivals however they want.
Diwali and Eid were certainly 2 very big festivals in Birmingham, and in many other cities too.

I'll try and find the reports findings again - I think the virgin media link is another report which has sensationalised this a bit.

[edit on 14/11/2007 by budski]