Merry WinterLight-Festival! No Limits on PC madness?

**Andres** · 11-03-2008, 16:01

Originally Posted by The Article

There will be something missing from Oxford's Christmas lights display this year - any mention of Christmas.

(...)

Organisers say the new two-month WinterLight festival will include events marking the Hindu Diwali and Jewish Hannukah festivals as well as Christmas. It also coincides with the start of International Year of Astronomy 2009.

(...)

Sabir Hussain Mirza, chairman of the Muslim Council of Oxford, said: 'I'm really upset. Christians, Muslims and other religions all look forward to Christmas.'

Rabbi Eli Bracknell of the Jewish Educational Centre said: ' Anything that waters down traditional culture and Christianity is not positive for the British identity. WinterLight includes all festivals but it also conceals them.'

Reverend James Grote, of the John Bunyan Baptist Church, said: 'People are not offended by hearing each other's faiths.'

But Ed Turner, deputy leader of Oxford council, said: 'We are not Christmas killers. There's no desire to downgrade its importance or prominence - there's still going to be a Christmas tree.'

My opinion?

-->

This is getting absurd. Beyond comprehension. Really.

**gaelic cowboy** · 11-03-2008, 16:07

In all fairness they still have a tree and they still will have some themes based on christmas there just adding in a couple a more and changing the name from christmas lights to winterlights. I thinks it's a good idea christmas starts earlier every bloody year. To be honest it probably a case of looking for offence where none was taken.

**Fragony** · 11-03-2008, 16:14

Ah, news from England

Sweden, common you can do it

**HoreTore** · 11-03-2008, 18:02

Originally Posted by Fragony

Sweden, common you can do it

Not likely, the swedish word for christmas isn't related to christianity or any religion at all

We're still pagans you know.

**Hooahguy** · 11-03-2008, 16:15

what? thats.... disgraceful!
christmas has its place in british society as a christian holiday. keep it that way!
its horrible for this to happen! PC is ruining the best of our cultures!

**Andres** · 11-03-2008, 16:28

Originally Posted by hooahguy

what? thats.... disgraceful!
christmas has its place in british society as a christian holiday. keep it that way!
its horrible for this to happen! PC is ruining the best of our cultures!

You're kidding, right?

It's not that it's that dramatic, I just think it's absurd.

Like I said: beyond comprehension. Of course, it's not the end of the world, but I really cannot see the necessity of not mentioning Christimas and re-naming the whole event into "WinterLight Festival".

Please, can someone explain this to me? Why "WinterLight Festival" instead of "Christmas"?

**Hooahguy** · 11-03-2008, 16:32

kidding in the sense that its a really horrible thing, yes, but not in the fact that PC has gone waaaaay overboard.

**Louis VI the Fat** · 11-03-2008, 16:37

Originally Posted by Andres

You're kidding, right?

It's not that it's that dramatic, I just think it's absurd.

Like I said: beyond comprehension. Of course, it's not the end of the world, but I really cannot see the necessity of not mentioning Christimas and re-naming the whole event into "WinterLight Festival".

Please, can someone explain this to me? Why "WinterLight Festival" instead of "Christmas"?

Why should 'Winterlight Festival' be named 'Christmas'?

I say let the Christians celebrate Christmas in their Palestine homeland instead of imposing their immigrant values on us Celts and Germanics.

**LittleGrizzly** · 11-03-2008, 16:47

Why should 'Winterlight Festival' be named 'Christmas'?

I say let the Christians celebrate Christmas in their Palestine homeland instead of imposing their immigrant values on us Celts and Germanics.

too true, wasn't christmas some pagan holiday first anyway, which got replaced with the christian one ?

Oxford is just looking ahead to the atheist future and renaming the holiday to suit....

Not that i really care either way to be honest, it doesn't make a bloody bit of difference what some town council calls it, why not just call it xmas though ?

Infact why the need to call it anything ? it is obvious the lights are being put up for the christmas period...

**Fragony** · 11-03-2008, 16:46

Originally Posted by Andres

Please, can someone explain this to me? Why "WinterLight Festival" instead of "Christmas"?

Dear god I have been trying to explain it since forever.

**Slyspy** · 11-03-2008, 19:20

"Organisers say the new two-month WinterLight festival will include events marking the Hindu Diwali and Jewish Hannukah festivals as well as Christmas"

Just to play advocate. If this festival is a creation of the civic council then surely it should include something of value for everyone (except, it seems, Muslims) living within the city? Christmas has, I suspect, not been cancelled. Merely that in the council's civic events calender it has been incorporated into a larger more diverse time of celebration and of festival. The article is hardly big on details. I would also question the veracity of the source considering that the Mail frequently runs similar stories which turn out to be at best stretching the truth and at worst actual misinformation.