Christmas Stamps

[Theodoric]

Link

Every now and then the CofE surprises me by forthrightly pointing out that we are still (well, at least nominally) a Christian country. On the grounds that 71% of British people described themselves as Christian in the last census, the synod has demanded that Xmas stamps should be restricted to Christian themes; no more Santa Clauses, holly or robins in the snow. Actually, I think they have a point; by its very name it is a Christian festival.

The comments from the Royal Mail spokesman were a bit feeble.

". . .we have varied stamp designs each year to appeal to as wide an audience as possible." Really, then if 71% of the people claim to be Christian then, logically, you reach the widest audience in terms of numbers by having Christian themes.

"Although Christmas is a Christian festival we live in a multi-faith society." Come again; how are robins and Santa Claus multi-faith? If you want something that would describe the modern Xmas, I'd suggest a set of stamps showing people frantically shopping and stuffing their faces with food.

I'm not sure if the last comment is a typo or whether the Royal Mail spokesman had a dry sense of humour. "There is no set programme to the choice of religious or secular themes and the choice of subject matter is part of the divine process in which we consult a wide variety of people." (My bolding).

[MetaWraith]

Originally Posted by Theodoric

On the grounds that 71% of British people described themselves as Christian in the last census,

Are you sure it wasn't Jedi ?

[Theodoric]

Originally Posted by MetaWraith

Are you sure it wasn't Jedi ?

They didn't even reach double percentage figures, did they?

Originally Posted by Theodoric

Link

Every now and then the CofE surprises me by forthrightly pointing out that we are still (well, at least nominally) a Christian country. On the grounds that 71% of British people described themselves as Christian in the last census, the synod has demanded that Xmas stamps should be restricted to Christian themes; no more Santa Clauses, holly or robins in the snow. Actually, I think they have a point; by its very name it is a Christian festival.

The comments from the Royal Mail spokesman were a bit feeble.

". . .we have varied stamp designs each year to appeal to as wide an audience as possible." Really, then if 71% of the people claim to be Christian then, logically, you reach the widest audience in terms of numbers by having Christian themes.

"Although Christmas is a Christian festival we live in a multi-faith society." Come again; how are robins and Santa Claus multi-faith? If you want something that would describe the modern Xmas, I'd suggest a set of stamps showing people frantically shopping and stuffing their faces with food.

I'm not sure if the last comment is a typo or whether the Royal Mail spokesman had a dry sense of humour. "There is no set programme to the choice of religious or secular themes and the choice of subject matter is part of the divine process in which we consult a wide variety of people." (My bolding).

Is that England or Britain?

Christian festival it may be, but it has moved on and is not now exclusive to religion.

Father Christmas (Santa Claus if your a yank) is as much a symbol of christmas as christ on the cross (nowadays more so) Any faith can join in the spirit of christmas which is hope, forgiveness and expectation.

[Maggy J]

Actually the Christians nicked the Festival from the 'pagans'.About time they gave it back!

If I want to have Father Christmas or robins on my stamps it should be no offence to Christians as I now declare my official religion is Paganism and I wish to celebrate the Midwinter Festival in the method of my own choice.

[Paul M]

They come up with "demands" like this and then wonder why so many people won't give religion the time of day

[Chris]

Originally Posted by Pem

They come up with "demands" like this and then wonder why so many people won't give religion the time of day

Is that religion, Christianity or the C of E in particular? As a matter of interest I don't subscribe to two out of those three, I have a faith but it's defined more easily as 'relationship' than 'religion', religion implying something more along the lines of ritual observances and the like. And I'm not a member of the C of E either. I do find it sad that they disappear up their own behinds for years at a time, wonder why their congregations are shrinking, panic, say something ostensibly intended to defend Christianity, cop a load of flak for it, panic again, diappear up their own behinds again, etc, etc, etc.

I'm not particularly impressed with that weak-minded excuse of a statement from the Royal Mail either. Anybody who knows anything about cross-cultural relations in this country knows that muslims, Jews, Sikhs, Hindus and just about everybody else can't understand why 'Christians' running institutions of what they see as a 'Christian Country' are afraid to acknowledge the cultural heritage of the country. They don't see anything offensive in expression of other faiths and can't understand why we should think they do.