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| Britain |
| Sorry, Santa's grotto go |
| 2004-11-09 |
| BOSSES have banned Santa from a shopping centre - in case he offends non-Christians. The Scrooges struck at Birmingham's famous Bullring. A spokeswoman said: "We wish to be sensitive to people of other religions over the festive period. There are a lot of people in the region who are not Christians and do not celebrate Christmas." James Lovell, of Santa training school the Ministry of Fun, said: "This is a great shame, as Santa is for everyone, regardless of religion." The Sun launched a Don't Sack Santa campaign yesterday after stores on London's Oxford Street also snubbed Father Christmas. Mean shop chiefs reckon he takes up too much room. SANTA will also be missing from these shopping centres: Brent Cross, North London; Buchanan Galleries, Glasgow; Swansgate Centre, Wellingborough, Northants; Clayton Square, Liverpool; Prospect Centre, Bradford; Whitgift Centre, Croydon; Oracle Centre, Reading, Berks; Merry Hill Centre, Dudley, West Midlands. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #8 I'm with you TW. Altho I'm open minded and all, I still think we need to pay more attention to the Mullet Run. Which is the big way of saying the fish God loves us. |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-09 6:48:07 PM |
| #7 This is stupid -- I love all the Christmassy stuff...loved singing carols in the school choir, and even joined some friends singing around the neighborhood one year. And then I love going home to celebrate my own holiday. There just should be room in the public square for all faiths (including Atheism, should they so desire) to celebrate their own winter holidays. What's the big deal? You believing one thing does not preclude me believing another -- this is hypersensitivity run amok. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-11-09 2:19:06 PM |
| #6 stupid europeans...the start of the end of christian europe? doesn't multiculurism mean just that? multi, to accept all faiths? the euros have dug a very big grave that i do not think they can crawl out of... |
| Posted by: Dan 2004-11-09 12:53:53 PM |
| #5 It's time that Christians tell everyone else to STFU and practice some of the sensitivity and tolerance they demand. If they can't then they should go back to where their particular brand of BS is practiced and leave us alone. Christians have allowed themselves to become fair game for everybody with too much time on their hands and a proclivity to be offended by our existence. The majority shouldn't be made to suffer because of the "sensitivities" of minorities. Most of the religious "difficulties" in this country come from the subsidy to the ACLU in all suits against various levels of government about separation of church and state. Every time an ACLU lawyer gets hungry, he files a frivolous suit against some government agency about a cross on a city seal or a cross in a war memorial in a public cemetery and makes the government compensate him for his time. If tolerance doesn't become a two-way street, eventually enough people will become aggravated enough to practice mutual intolerance and it won't be pretty. |
| Posted by: RWV 2004-11-09 12:41:39 PM |
| #4 Yikes ex-lib! Classic! |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-11-09 12:22:04 PM |
| #3 None of this "Joy through Toys" nonsense! Our children will start laughing and playing and running underfoot! He makes Martians into Martianmallows! We remember the Naqba of 1964! -- Voldar |
| Posted by: Angie Schultz 2004-11-09 11:26:55 AM |
| #2 So, the Brits are banning Santa under the auspices of not wanting to offend non-Christians, specifically. Wouldn't want to do that, now would we? Santa, after all, is SO bloody offensive this time of year. These man on the street interviews reveal more . . . Joe-blow Islamic: "Santa is against the jihad. He keeps everybody in good spirits--especially the children. This takes their mind off jihad. Death to Santa. England cannot go on offending its Moslem population like this. It is a disgrace. It is unacceptable. It is against the Koran. Anything even remotely associated with the Christian faith must be excised from the land! We will replace Santa with Martyr Man. He will be dressed in white with the red blood of the martyrs of the jihad, and will collect money for Islamic charities--which the English also have ignored for far too long--something we can never forgive. In fact, Christmas should be banned altogether--no lights, no singing, no egg nog, no plum pudding, no merrymaking. Even the "secular festivities" must go, because the roots of the secular celebrations have their roots in that which offends us--the celebration of the Nativity of the Son of God. And no churches either! Do this, and we will not be offended. Do this and you will live." Joe-blow Carnal Pagan: "Well, I hate Santa because in some ways he is a representative of a system that suggests personal and moral accountability regarding myself and my duties to my fellow man. I don't need Santa to be a good person. Fuck Santa. Fuck all he stands for. Fuck the Christians. I'm offended by Santa Claus and his Christian geeks. I don't want to see him around here anymore. Shut up. I gotta go get laid." Joe-blow Academic Deconstructionist Pagan: "Santa Claus should be eliminated in all forms from both the pubic and private sectors because he symbolizes a forced patriarchal structure of morality that supports only the most base drives--drives which are much too closely associated with conservative values. To make political and humanitarian progress in the world, and to assure that able globalist rulers ascend to govern the masses (who cannot govern themselves--note the recent election of G.W. Bush in America as proof), we absolutely must abandon the outmoded faith of Christianity. And we should work very diligently to destroy the remnants of its forms and cultural memory among the people. Santa Claus is only one of these forms. Father Christmas should be replaced with the Goddess, who has been revered, historically, throughout the ages prior to the advent of the brutal Christian religion. Supporting traditional infant sacrifice is one way we all can begin this much needed change in service of the Goddess." Joe-blow Indian: "I don't mind Santa. I think Santa is actually the cousin of Krishna, twice removed. There is room for Santa in our religion. We must change his outfit, though, because it would be too hot for the weather of paradise. And besides that, he is supposed to look like a blue elephant with necklaces of flowers. I'm sure if we make these changes, no one will be offended." |
| Posted by: ex-lib 2004-11-09 10:38:09 AM |
| #1 How 'bout if we Christmas shoppers go elsewhere for our annual buying of stuff? Wouldn't want to offend the non-Christians with our wanton shopping. |
| Posted by: BH 2004-11-09 10:05:18 AM |