Replacement of nativity scene is “extreme political correctness”

The Evangelical Alliance says it is a shame that some schools have decided to airbrush Christ out of Christmas and has called on schools not to be afraid of returning to traditional nativity plays.

The organisation Netmums, which surveyed 2,000 parents, has expressed concern that the traditional nativity scene is being modernised and replaced by 'winter celebrations' in which religious figures are being replaced with characters such as Elvis Presley and footballers, while Christmas carols are being replaced with pop songs.

Head of public affairs at the Alliance, Dr Don Horrocks, said that Christ has largely been airbrushed out of Easter and it's the same with Christmas.

"This gives new meaning to 'no room at the inn'! Are we ashamed of Christ in this nation? Are we frightened of upsetting people of other faiths? Here we have the greatest good news story in the history of the world and we seem to be doing our best to bury it and replace it with Elvis impersonations and every other type of contemporary image which demands nothing of us. Yet the person whose birthday we celebrate is not there. The central figure has been removed and the celebration has become 'Xmas', where 'X' stands for 'anonymous'.

"This is either extreme political correctness or perhaps it reflects a nation too embarrassed to face up to its Christian heritage and the radical challenging message of the Christmas story. We are acknowledging Eid and Diwali in a country with an overwhelmingly Christian tradition but we seem to be frightened of mentioning Jesus Christ.

"Perhaps it's a sign of collective guilt amidst national commercial frenzy? Whatever the motive, it does a huge disservice not least to the younger generation who are being misled regarding their spiritual heritage and culture and causing them to miss out on the meaning and significance of the Christmas message, which is about salvation, forgiving love and serving of our neighbour."

Francis Goodwin, head of the Christmas Starts with Christ campaign, of which the Alliance is a member, said:

"I'm sorry, but not surprised, to hear this story. The UK has become the most secular nation in the West as one of our surveys shows that 51 percent of adults did not think that the birth of Christ has any meaning for their Christmas;perhaps many of our teachers are among this 51 percent. The time is overdue for Christians to fight back. Sign up with us in the Christmas Starts With Christ campaign (www.ChristmasStartsWithChrist.com) and let's remind the nation of the real reason we celebrate Christmas."