Steve Jones

Steve Jones Business English
Trainer, Translator,
Proofreader

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

"A college has renamed the traditional Christmas and Easter breaks in a bid to avoid offending students from other religions."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1055899/Colleg...

Is this insane?

If you lived in a Muslim country, would you insist they renamed "Ramadan"?

Aren't Christmas and Easter just linguistic terms to denote a traditional holiday period?

PC gone mad?

Could you imagine a Polish college renaming "wielkanoc" to please an ethnic minority group?

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

I don`t understand why a country/nation is being deprived of its culture. Minorities are becoming so important that majorities are being discriminated against in turn. While I`m not a church-goer and I don`t care what they call the school breaks, I can see no point of such PC changes in any country.

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

On the other hand, I'd ban Easter bunnies and all commercial Christmas hysteria - it's too far important what is celebrated.

I wonder if they ever do it.

But protecting minorities from being offended by using the names of Christian holidays is such an important issue.

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

Lidia K.:
But protecting minorities from being offended by using the names of Christian holidays is such an important issue.
Are they being offended? How? Living in a Christian country was their choice, I suppose, so?

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

A Christian country? Which one?

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

I'm a minority in Poland. It does bug me when I see a cross nailed above the door in my son's classromm, I have intervened when the teacher tried introducing "religion" during Christmas preparations, but I still call it Christmas, and tell my son it's a holiday created to celebrate being with your family, having a break from life's troubles, visiting friends etc. I do tell him what it meas to other people (as much as a five-year-old can understand); same goes for Easter. It's difficult though.
I wish we had Thanksgiving in Poland, it would all be so much easier!

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

You wrote "using Christian names of holidays" so I thought you had a Christian country in mind.

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

Here's the article, btw:

Yorkshire Coast College has re-branded Christmas and Easter as 'end of term breaks'

A college has renamed the traditional Christmas and Easter breaks in a bid to avoid offending students from other religions.

The college's new calendar shows that both of the traditional holiday periods have now been re-branded as 'end of term breaks'.

Critics have complained that the decision by Yorkshire Coast College is nothing more than 'political correctness'.

Tory MP Robert Goodwill said: 'I have heard that some people refer to the Christmas period as the Winterval, which is worse. This is absolutely barmy.

'We are a Christian country and, to be honest, religious tolerance in this country is about respecting other people's religious beliefs.'

'We live in a country where there is a mutual respect for religious beliefs.

'School terms are traditionally separated by Christmas and Easter and they should be referred to as such.

'They are petrified that they offend the minority but what they are doing is offending the majority.

'It's political correctness gone mad and I am disappointed that it's from an edict from Ofsted.'

The college, based in Scarborough, North Yorkshire offers a range of courses concentrating on training for 'life skills' such as Engineering, Motor Vehicle Training and IT.

The college insists that the decision is in line with Ofsted guidelines and has been made to 'increase inclusion and diversity'.

It circulates the internal year planner annually to 150 teaching staff and up to 50 other workers to inform them of important dates such as term times and training days.

A spokeswoman for the college said: 'Every school and college, wherever located, is responsible for educating its learners who will live and work in a country which is diverse in terms of cultures, religions or beliefs, ethnicities and social backgrounds.

'All employees at Yorkshire Coast College are encouraged to closely follow guidelines set out by Ofsted for the promotion of equality and diversity.

'We constantly review the ways in which we communicate, to ensure that we do not discriminate, and part of those reviews means that we have stopped referring to the Christmas Break and Easter Break and we now have End of Term Break.'

However, Ofsted today denied this. A spokesperson said: 'Ofsted inspection guidance for colleges makes no reference whatsoever to the observance of religious festivals; there is no 'edict' from Ofsted.'



Find this story at http://dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1055899/College-ba...

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

Tatiana S.:
It does bug me when I see a cross nailed above the door in my son's classromm,
I don`t see any reason for crosses in classrooms, either.
I wish we had Thanksgiving in Poland, it would all be so much easier!

You just have to wait! We have St. Valentine`s Day and Halloween. It`s only a matter of time. hahaVioletta P. edytował(a) ten post dnia 18.09.08 o godzinie 10:38

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

Valentine's Day sucks ;)
Halloween does too; it ain't what it used to be, and when I was living in the States, I went out once or twice to go trick-or-treating with my nieces. And then we read an article about a boy beaten to a pulp bu a gang of teenage candy snatchers.
Michal Rogowski

Michal Rogowski Head of Program
Management &
Implementation UK
and Ireland

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

I fully agree with Steve - let me show a Muslim country, where they rename "Ramadan" as a "Diet month" or ban prayers five times a day not to disrupt non-believers feelings.... Don't like Christmas or Easter, fine - but remember that tolerance means you don't enforce your opinions on others.

Political Correctness is an utter nonsene and should be removed from our livess. Today I've read about sharia law being brought in the UK as a parallel legal infrastructure to solve muslim cases in relation to finance or family. What's more important, this is FULLY executionable under the law, like any other British courts ruling.

Please, how can we talk justice in a religion where a woman is treated and sanctioned as a lesser being?

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

It's all fine, but if we expand the topic too much, it's going to be impossible to come to any conclusions. Unless you think it's indispensable.

Right now the problem is: a university renaming their holiday breaks as 'end of term breaks'. That's all.
It's more neutral. Is it such a big deal?

Thx T. for quoting it, I didn't bother to click as usual;)

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

Lidia K.:
Thx T. for quoting it, I didn't bother to click as usual;)

I know :)

Anyway, I feel renaming the breaks is silly. As Violetta says, if you choose to live in a Christian country, you have to accept a few things that go with it. I chose to accept the crosses, Easter and Christmas, and use their Christian names because most of the people I speak to UNDERSTAND the concept. Even if they aren't Catholic. I have a friend from Algeria; he's a teacher of French, and when Christmas is around, he digs out articles on Christmas too.
Anna S.

Anna S. IT recruitment and
Business Development
Consultant at Vm.pl

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

On the one hand it's just a name of a school break - I don't really think that a name of a school/university break is a big issue.

On the other hand everybody knows what's it all about, and even tough I think PC has some good points, a big NO NO to this one.

So is this or is this not what it seems to be?

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

Steve Jones:
PC gone mad?

Take a look at my university's timeschedule for the passing academic year. There's no single word about Christmas or Easter - both breaks have always been called "winter/spring holidays":
http://www.umk.pl/studia/kalendarium/

:)
Jon M.

Jon M. Technical/Offshore
English,
petrochemicals

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

That trouble in Birmingham a few years ago, when the City Council decided to call Christmas 'Winterval' and the Hindu/Muslin community felt embarrassed caused such a fuss in the media and in the end turned out to be due to the council wanting to save money.

Bradford has the right idea, by putting up fairly non-specific Christmas decorations a bit early, in time for Diwali, and celebrating both.

Oddly enough, Yorkshie Coast College, mentioned earlier, is one of the least culturally diverse in Britain.

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

I think it's a good idea getting rid of the christmas and easter names for breaks. It seems progressive and respectful. But I dont understand the argument about moslem countries not doing the same thing. Why should they? It's up to them. But we can do it if we want to.
I doubt the majority of people would agree with me so it probably won't happen. These articles always come from loony papers like the Daily Mail, designed to stir up indignation.

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

Who cares about names anyway? I don't.Andrzej Dobrucki edytował(a) ten post dnia 18.09.08 o godzinie 13:17

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

They all should be called SALES !!!! lol

konto usunięte

Temat: Ban Easter and Christmas!

Michal Rogowski:
>>
Please, how can we talk justice in a religion where a woman is treated and sanctioned as a lesser being?

See, this is only in extremist states, I have had plenty of female Muslim friends and co-workers and they are treated just fine. What you see and hear about is extremists, sort of like if you were to judge Christianity by what you’ve seen in this flick:
Welcome to Jesus camp!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CgvgjfwyPs

Następna dyskusja:

What's wrong with a grope n...




Wyślij zaproszenie do