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| Down Under |
| John Howard calls for Jesus in Shopping centres |
| 2005-12-17 |
| PRIME Minister John Howard has made a passionate defence of religion at Christmas and urged shopping centres to restore nativity scenes. He said he had contempt for arguments that Christianity should be downplayed in case it offended people of other faiths or non-believers. Mr Howard said it was not tolerant to "bland out" religious symbols of Christmas. "You don't demonstrate tolerance towards minorities by apologising for your heritage," he told The Sunday Telegraph. "I hope some department stores have the courage to bring back nativity scenes. "When I was a kid you'd go in and see the Christmas tree and Santa Claus, but there'd also be nativity scenes in department stores. "They seem to have disappeared and you hear, 'Oh, we don't want to offend anybody'." "Actually you're offending a lot of people who think it's a great pity they've disappeared. Even if they're not especially religious themselves, they like the association. "It's part of the culture and the history and the nature of this country." He did not believe most Muslims and Jews resented the emphasis on Christmas. "They respect the fact that it's a Christian day. You don't win tolerant brownie points by pretending to be something you're not," he said before Sydney's recent race riots. "I just think it's silly and it's patronising towards minorities and it's offensive to our cultural history." Melbourne's Christmas decorations were boosted after criticism of last year's low-key approach last year. |
| Posted by:Oztralian |
| #1 Moneylenders? Temple? |
| Posted by: gromgoru 2005-12-17 22:43 |