Posted on 12/16/2014 5:28:45 PM PST by Enza Ferreri
This is a conversation I heard. She: "Do we have a card with Jesus on it?" He: "No, we only have Christmas cards".
This exchange may go some way to explain the tragicomic results of recent research.
A survey of 2,000 UK families carried out in early December showed that a third of children aged 10-13 do not know that Christmas celebrates the birth of Jesus.
It’s shocking but hardly surprising, as Christ has been progressively removed from Christmas.
But the problem does not concern just kids. According to the same survey, half the population considers Jesus’s birth irrelevant to their Christmas celebrations, and only 1 adult in 10 can correctly state 4 facts about the Nativity.
Therefore, it’s safe to assume that the children just reflect the ignorance and disinterest of their parents.
The research was commissioned by the campaign group Christmas Starts With Christ. Francis Goodwin, a campaigner for the group, said: “There is a problem with political correctness in schools. They think they should not focus on the Christian roots of Christmas because of inclusivity.”
Schools are becoming so “inclusive” that many of them are not putting on Nativity plays for fear of offending people of different religions, and this survey shows in very clear, ominous terms the consequences of that trend.
Then there is the research conducted by the online parenting group Netmums, which found that only 1 in 3 schools are staging a traditional Nativity play this month.
The research also unearthed that schools these days prefer to stage modern musicals instead. Almost half of them now perform “modernised” Christmas shows with footballers - which could explain the results of another survey, below - and punk fairies in place of the shepherds, Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. 1 in 8 school plays will have no religious references at all, but only eco-warriors or aliens or Elvis.
If we don’t stand up for Christianity, the religion that has given birth to and sustained the West will disappear from our lands. We, or our descendants, might discover that this loss spells the end of Western civilization, as an infinite number of signs already indicate.
Another survey was conducted a few days ago at London’s Brent Cross Shopping Centre, a veritable pre-Christmas nightmarish place. The association of Christmas with shopping persists. This is most incongruous, as the materialism and acquisitiveness of which Christmas has become the expression is totally at odds with the Christian message.
In this research, more than half of 5-to-12-year-olds thought that Christmas Day is Santa Claus' birthday.
A total of 1,000 children at Brent Cross were shown an iconic image of Jesus and told that it portrayed Jesus.
Then they were asked: who is Jesus Christ?
The options were:
a) A footballer for Chelsea b) Son of God c) TV presenter d) X Factor contestant e) An astronaut.
20 per cent of the children chose a), Chelsea player.
The presence, described above, of footballers in schools' Nativity plays "made relevant" to the present day could bear some responsibility for creating this confusion in kids.
It gives an entire new meaning to “Jesus saves”, as Alex Boot shows in the satirical title of his post.
I lived in Britain a few decades ago. I was struck by the non-relegious aspect of life in the UK. When my husband was in school,they had to go to church every day before school. He is agnostic. I went to church a few times while living there but was uncomfortable in the fact that , in this beautiful several hundred years old, stone church, there were only two of us to listen to the pastor. Three people total at the service. This is where this country is headed. Politics, Socialism, is the religion of the Left. I hope God will again smile on this once great country and help us resurrect his grand experiment in the freedom of our citizenry.
Some vintage Dilbert:
I bet the pastor was licking his lips when he saw you stroll in. His congregation had just doubled in size!
That is because the Queen is head of the church of England. That was the point of Protestant reformation ~control. It isn’t defamation to say she really isn’t a theologian.
http://mariamante.hubpages.com/hub/British-History-Americans-Never-Learn-About
How many of our public schools have Christian Christmas plays? Less than 1% would be my guess, certainly not the “1 in 3 schools” cited in this article from England.
That’s silly. The central point of the Reformation was sola fide— justification by faith alone.
Went to an elementary school Christmas program this evening. . .totally secular. . . . so sad. . .so meaningless.
Been replaced by Santa and other fantasy garbage. Not to mention shopping and luxury cars for Christmas presents....
No, that’s “Hey Suss” .....
> But the problem does not concern just kids. According to the same survey, half the population considers Jesus’s birth irrelevant to their Christmas celebrations, and only 1 adult in 10 can correctly state 4 facts about the Nativity.
All they need to know is how to kneel when it’s time...
They’re correct about Haysoos.
I betcha they know who Moe Hamhead is though...
Oh yes.
This is ensured by the national curriculum.
Back in the 80's RE lessons where all focused on Either Judaism or Goat worshiping moroons.
I think Christianity stopped being studied after year seven.
Small wonder very few took the subject as an exam.
WW2 had a strange effect on religion in this country, it became uncool to be Christian. Weired.
How do we know he doesn't play football or Rugby? No ,it would be cricket.
Sola fide was Martin Luther in Germany. The Church of England was King Henry VIII.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Reformation
Martin Luther didn’t mass produce millions of pamphlets and distribute them internationally on a humble monk’s salary. The German princes supported Luther, and they supported him.
Of course the Dutch, Swiss, and Swedish princes, who are also related, didn’t want to be under Rome’s thumb either much less their German cousin’s boot, so they pulled out their own Calvinism.
Luther didn’t want to break away from the church, he wanted the church to give more authority to the aristocrats and the German princes who were under the Holy Roman Empire.
I really suggest anyone read Martin Luthers original writings, and you will begin to see the mass deception that takes place.
During the same era Russia Tzar Ivan the Terrible put the final nail in the separation of the Eastern Orthodox from Rome. Without Rome the Eastern church was at his mercy.
The British house of Windsor is actually German. They changed their name from Hanover after WWI or II. They are all related. Since the days of Queen Elizabeth I, the British had a close relationship with Russia.
There are very valid reasons behind the endless defamation and attacks on the largest Christian denomination in the world.
"The Sovereign holds the title 'Defender of the Faith and Supreme Governor of the Church of England'. There are many examples of the relationship between the established Church and the State. Archbishops and bishops are appointed by The Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister, who considers the names selected by a Church Commission. They take an oath of allegiance to The Queen on appointment and may not resign without Royal authority." http://www.royal.gov.uk/MonarchUK/QueenandChurch/QueenandtheChurchofEngland.aspx
Wikipedia is a laughable source for matters of faith. Also, you are referencing the Reformation from a political perspective. Christianity is a matter of the heart, not political power. Of course that never stopped the ruling class from interfering. It doesn’t matter what European kings or papal Caesars declare. The powerful can’t change the essence of biblical Christianity. No matter what they decree, they can’t change how men are made just before the Lord.
From a theological perspective, there were five solas of the Reformation. If you boiled it down to just one, sola fide was the core issue.
The Reformation: Why It Was Necessary and What It Accomplished
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=5693
The English Reformation
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=4308
The Blood of the English Reformation
http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=4310
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