Parents Outraged After School Cuts 'Lord' from Classic Christmas Carol in Nativity Play
The progressive left continues to remove Christ from Christmas under the banner of inclusivity, this time in the Chingford district of London.
Angry parents learned that a primary school had changed the words to the popular Christmas carol “Away in a Manger.”
The headmaster at Whitehall Primary School, Zakia Khatun, told students not to sing the carol using the word “Lord” when they attended a carol service and Nativity play at a nearby church Dec. 17. Instead of “little Lord Jesus,” they were asked to sing “baby boy Jesus,” the Daily Mail reported.
In a meeting with parents, Khatun said she made the change so that all students could participate, telling parents that 60 students out of roughly 500 did not attend last year’s event because of their religious beliefs, according to CBN News.
But what is a Nativity if the birth of Christ in the person of Jesus — Immanuel — is no longer referred to as Lord?
Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, called on the school to retract its decision, saying, “Removing the Lordship of Christ at Christmas guts the Christian message of its truth around which the whole of western civilisation once based its culture.”
The Diocese of Chelmsford, which includes the church where the concert and Nativity play were held, disagreed, writing, “The service maintains the traditional Christian message of the joy of Christmas in a way that can be celebrated by everyone, including those of other faiths and none.”
A parent identified only as Margarita told Christian Concern, “I picked my children up at the end of the day and they were so upset, saying to me, ‘Mummy, today in assembly the headteacher told everybody that she would be changing the words to the Christmas song.’ I was so shocked. As a family we go to church, pray together and celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus as the Son of God.”
For more than a decade, the progressive left has sought to destroy any public exhibit of Christian faith under the label of inclusiveness, particularly any forums where Christians profess their faith, such as a Nativity.
But the indisputable truth is that Christianity is not, and never was, designed to be inclusive. One either professes a belief that the Messiah arrived in the human form of Jesus or rejects it.
The real question here isn’t about belief, but why Christians are not allowed to publicly celebrate their faith.
The war on Christmas in Western nations will continue as the culture becomes more secular and more hostile toward Christianity.
It’s not surprising that the school defended its decision, saying the program needed to be “accessible to all our children to participate in, together, as one.”
Still, it is people such as Margarita standing up for the Christian faith who give us hope that we are not yet there.
“I am not alone,” she said. “Teachers and other parents are not happy about this. I believe my children have been discriminated against and they have been denied the freedom to fully express their faith.
“I am taking this stand as Christian belief and tradition, which means so much to so many people of all generations, is being sacrificed and silenced in the name of inclusion and political correctness.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. Advertise Today.
