Jack Straw lashes out at card companies
An a  rticle caught my interest which was published in the Daily Mail on Monday 17 th December, it was about Christmas Cards and the Christmas messages inside them. Jack Straw has apparently criticised the companies who produce the cards for banning the words “Happy Christmas” in case they upset ethnic minorities. The Secretary of State for Justice says that it is almost impossible to find cards with the traditional words that we all know and love, dare I say it “Christmas”. It is now being replaced with “Season’s Greetings” to avoid excluding other faiths during the C________ holiday!
I was surprised to read that Jack Straw (who is also the Lord Chancellor) says that the card companies are wiping out the real message of Christmas, “Good for him”, I say! Jack runs a weekly column for his local paper, the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and it was only just last year when he requested Muslim women to remove their veils to aid community relations.
He writes sarcastically: "Merry Season. I hope you have a good one. What's Father Season bringing you? Oh, the usual Season presents. Then we'll have our Season dinner”. He calls it ‘gibberish’ and I am sure that I won’t be the only one to agree with him. All he has done is substitute the word Season for ‘Christmas’ which he points out is what the card manufacturers have done. He states that this is supposed to be the most cheerful time of the year and a time when we should actually be remembering the gift of Christ. Words have meaning and you cannot substitute another word which does not have Christ in it in order to describe this time of the year.
December 25th is Christ’s birthday and although the date may not be totally accurate, it is thought that it can’t be too far wrong. This is why we celebrate this time of the year, the Lord Jesus cast off his princely robe in heaven to come to this earth to be born, grow up and live his life as an example to us. Sometimes I feel that perhaps this wonderful act of love and sacrifice is taken for granted, he died in agony and with a broken heart for mankind.
Wouldn’t it be more offensive to apply the same rules to the holidays of people of other faiths? Try substituting ‘Happy Hanukka’ for the Jews; ‘Eid Mubarak’ to the Muslims and ‘Happy Diwali’ to the Sikh or Hindu faiths with the word Season’s Greetings. I wouldn’t be particularly bothered if there were cards in the shops to celebrate the holidays of other faiths would you?
Jack says, "We are not a multi-racial no-religion society, but a multi-racial society, and the key to our collective happiness is mutual respect." Well shouldn’t this apply to Christians don’t we deserve mutual respect! Our Queen is a Christian and the head of the church. We do not force our beliefs on non-Christians nor is their punishment by death or a whipping if people do not believe in Christmas.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very ‘Happy Christmas’ and goodwill to all the people who do not share my faith in Christ.
By Yvonne and Roger Hill storyline by courtesy of the Daily Mail | 