Comments on: Christmas will not be Christmas in Dundee this year. All references to the religious holiday have been dropped from the switching-on ceremony for the city’s festive lights. Instead of the traditional Christmas Lights switch-on, residents will be attending the “Dundee Winter Light Night”

By: Pew Sitter

Pew Sitter — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 10:44:49 +0000

Well, despite the comments above, I have just seen this from the Christian Institute:-

Dundee City Council will no longer drop references to Christianity from its ‘winter festival’, prompting delight from local church leaders.

Christians had complained about the Council’s policy of removing all references to Christmas.

The city’s only Muslim councillor, Mohammed Asif, had said the most important cultural celebration for families in Dundee should be staged as a ‘Christmas’ festival.

Dundee’s Lord Provost, John Letford, admitted that the policy of dropping Christmas had “caused a great deal of embarrassment for the Council.”

He added that the situation “will all be sorted for next year and we will not allow this to happen again”.

He also said: “We should not forget that Christmas is a time to remember the message of Jesus and it would be wrong not to let people exercise that right.”

Representatives from local churches will now join the procession at the Christmas lights switch on.

The Revd Allan Webster of the Church of Scotland’s Dundee Presbytery said: “I will be giving a Christmas message at the conclusion of the parade in the City Square. Everybody is delighted.”

Recently the Bishop of Chichester called on Christians to speak up for their religious traditions. The Rt Revd John Hind pointed to “growing hostility in the public towards witnessing our faith in society.”

He said that there had been “a number of recent attempts to marginalise the meaning of Christmas or to suppress the rights of believers.”

Just this week the Employers Forum on Belief (EFB) suggested that putting up religious decorations at Christmas time could be seen as discriminatory by non-Christian staff.

Earlier this year Rochdale Borough Council put up ‘Christmas’ lights in August in order to celebrate the religious festivals of several faiths. The first of the lights were installed as many as 127 days before Christmas.

By: Webmaster

Webmaster — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 06:36:50 +0000

Thanks for the clarification David & Mongrel.

You’d think journalists would have better things to do.

By: david

david — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:56:47 +0000

The article is innacurate and misleading and I can say that as someone who actually lives in the city. The event involves to quote the organisers “see the city;s Christmas Lights for the first time.” The festival events will also include the ringing of church bells, the singing of carols, the singing of Christmas songs, the telling of Christmas stories and events held in churches across the city. The festival has been given its name because it is a whole package of programmes marking the homecoming festival which has been going on all year in Scotland. The tile ‘the turning on of the Christmas lights’ for the festival would not have given it justice. And just to make it clear again ‘the christmas lights’ will be switched on as part of the event.

By: Mongrel

Mongrel — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:50:40 +0000

If I was you I would take the thread down. ~The story is entirely made up

This link will fill you in

http://www.fivechinesecrackers.com/2009/11/these-theyve-banned-christmas-stories.html

As will Dundee Councils own site which has frequent reference to Xmas.

http://www.dundee.com/winter-light-night.html

We Christians should be asking why journalists are making up Xmas stories to promote distrust and hate.