Posted on 12/17/2004 2:01:19 PM PST by naturalman1975
WANT to take your kid to Santa? Sorry madam, he doesn't come here any more. How about a Christmas carol? Afraid not, they're a fire hazard. Fancy going to the work's Christmas party? Not a chance, dear boy -- we don't want to be sued.
Welcome to Christmas 2004, British-style, where politically correct seasonal madness has gone into overdrive.
In the land where Ebenezer Scrooge was conceived, where Posh and Becks are the stars of a bizarre waxworks nativity scene, yuletide meanness appears to have been refined to an art form.
Here, rising public liability costs, over-zealous councils and an apparent fear of offending minorities have combined to threaten many much-loved Christmas traditions.
It began last year when government departments issued edicts that references to Christmas be dropped from greetings cards, so as not to offend non-Christians.
This year, a whole range of traditions are under attack.
In Clydach, on the outskirts of Swansea, the local council has banned festive lights in case they electrocute vandals.
Christmas killjoys in Bellshill, Scotland, have scrapped a supermarket party because they didn't want staff turning up for work with hangovers.
They're not alone. A survey revealed eight in 10 British firms had decided not to have a party because bosses fear being sued by staff claiming injury or sexual harassment during drunken knees-ups.
In Tower Hamlets, a down-at-heel district in London's east, council staff have been ordered to refer to their Christmas meal as a "festive lunch".
Some of London's biggest stores have abolished Santa's grottos, fearing they could act as magnets for pedophiles.
In one shop, a webcam has been installed to spy on Santa to ensure he does not abuse any of the children.
Tinsel has been banned from the Chipping Sodbury school Christmas party because the headmaster fears pupils might strangle themselves if they drape it around their necks.
And in perhaps the most bizarre anti-Christmas initiative, the Castleford Choral Society, which has sung carols for more than 60 years, was deemed a fire hazard and had to cancel its traditional concert.
Meanwhile, Britain's union movement called for mistletoe to be banned to discourage unwanted sexual advances.
The party-wowser missive from the Trade Union Congress also frowns on balloons because they can trigger an allergy to latex. But perceptions of Christmas being under threat have prompted a backlash.
A number of national newspapers have launched "Save Our Christmas" campaigns, appealing to traditionalists who feel cherished seasonal customs are under siege.
Even religious minorities, groups many of these measures were intended to placate, have risen in support of Christmas.
"Muslims are not offended by Christmas," Muslim Council of Britain spokesman Inayat Bunglawala said. "We respect the rights of Christians to celebrate their main festival."
What I get from this article, besides some prime examples of the nanny-state apparatus in a full-court press, is that many Britons are living in fear. Fear of themselves more than anything else.
In 2004 Christmas will be replaced by a beer soaked "football" riot.
Someone explain to me the downside of electrocuting vandals.
Looks like Scrooge is winning in Britain...to bad for them...
The men of the RAF in '40 are gone.
How kind of these agents of satan.
Shouldn't that be Father Christmas over there? Why don't people value their traditions? There is no need to import crass American commercialism of "Santa" when you have the beautiful Father Christmas legend famed in song and story.
Savage had me laughing on Friday's show. He was talking to a Santa in New York and started talking about how he never really liked Santas. He said you could smell the alcohol on their breath or you feared they were deviants. "One blink from your mother and you could end up butchered in a basement!"
However, at MY house we celebrate Christmas in the traditional way, with lots of festivity and good cheer. Plenty of people still do, I'm sure, on both sides of the Atlantic.
Merry Christmas!
Sad .. but true
But we are starting to fight back against the anti's ... my hope is the good folks in Briton do the same
Merry Christmas
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