A SAD DAY FOR CHRISTIANITY

The Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams has described the decision not to allow a female hospital worker to wear a tiny cross at her neck as “bureaucratic silliness” but even more - it shows just how loony life in Britain has become.

Muslims may wear the niqab, Sikhs may wear the kirpan (a short bladed traditional dagger) but a Christian has been ordered by an employment tribunal not to wear the symbol of her faith.

I hold nothing whatsoever against religious minorities in the United Kingdom - indeed the contrary - but as a Christian citizen, I`m appalled. This decision is nothing less than madness, yet no one dares speak up for fear of being classified as either a religious bigot or a racist. Or both.

Management at the hospital concerned have suggested a compromise where the woman, 54 year old Mrs Shirley Chaplin would be allowed to pin her tiny cross to her uniform, or to wear it on a lanyard. What utter rubbish is that!

The Christian Legal Centre plans an appeal.

Praise the Lord!

Image: www.worldreligions.co.uk

CELEBRATING CHRISTMAS

What does Christmas mean to you? A bonus at work, extended shopping hours, more cooking, school holidays, the Pope`s Benediction and the Queen`s message to her subjects, a new version of Silent Night, greeting cards, office parties, eating and drinking, giving and receiving - the celebration of the birth of Jesus Christ?

25th December unites Christians everywhere, but while church rites are similar, celebrations follow many variations on the theme.

In Holland, festivities start on 6th December, when St.Nicholas and his servant Black Peter, ride through Amsterdam to the Damrak where they are offered a beaker of wine by the Mayor. On Christmas Eve, the tree is decorated, baby Jesus is placed in a crib by the fireplace, and coats buttoned against the cold, the family walks to a midnight church service. On the morning of the 25th they open gifts and enjoy a breakfast of cold meats and raisin bread. Relatives call for drinks and the main meal, at either lunchtime or night, is a formal dinner of baked turkey, or hare, accompanied by chestnuts and veg.

Any child who simply writes to: Santa Claus, Kiruna, Sweden is guaranteed a reply as the Swedish postal administration makes provision to answer all Christmas mail. But the Swedes believe it is illogical for Jultomten to climb down a chimney, so instead they leave a window open! Christmas is celebrated on 24th December when the family gathers to sing carols and to dance around the Christmas tree. In the kitchen the ham is removed from the pot, and everyone takes a turn to dip a piece of bread in the bouillon before sitting around the table set with a roasted pig - apple in its mouth- and an elaborate smorgasbord.

Like all religious festivities in Iberia, Spaniards celebrate Christmas with mucho gusto including street markets, wandering musicians and pantomimes. Christmas dinner, eaten on la noche buena - begins with baked cod, followed by roast poultry, and ends with a sweet almond soup. The family attends midnight Mass and on the morning of the 25th they make a traditional paseo to wish everyone Felices Pascuas!

Christmas markets are a highlight of the festive season in the Czech Republic, one of the biggest displays being on the Old Town Square in Prague. Parents hide the fir-tree until Christmas eve when it is decorated, and the children are brought in and told it is a gift from Jesus on his birthday. The family then eats a traditional meal of baked carp,and after opening their presents, many attend a Christmas Eve church service. The vanocka (Christmas cake) is cut for breakfast on 25th and the main meal, eaten that evening, will be likely baked goose or turkey, served with vegetables including the inevitable cabbage, as well as dumplings.

The former Portuguese colony of Goa, on the Malabar coast of India, counts hundreds of Catholic churches, but nowhere celebrates Christmas more passionately than Nossa Senhora dous Remedios in the rural province of Salcete where three boys are chosen to play the three wise men from the east at the Festa de los Reis Magos. On 6th January, the Kings lead a procession winding through the coconut palms up to the church where a High Mass is said in Konkini and the boys bring their presents to the priest. The large crowds eventually drift home to dine on chicken and fish curries, followed by tropical fruits and pastries, and those who managed to touch a crown worn by one of the Kings, are filled with joy of blessings in the new year.

Old traditions die hard in Australia which continues to celebrate an English-style Christmas with pine trees and snow in the heat of mid-summer. And a typical Aussie Christmas is often held outdoors with parents driving up to 300 miles to reach a favourite camp-site. Kids get up early to help erect an artificial tree beside the tent, or caravan, and somehow mother manages to throw a shrimp on the barbie and serve baked poultry with all the trimmings.

By evening most people have had a swim and are enjoying drinks with fellow campers when there is a rumble of thunder and wearing only shorts and t-shirts, everyone rushes in to escape the storm. Mother is heard saying the washing-up will keep till tomorrow, while Dad`s last words are: `Christ, we forgot to go to church again this year!`

c.Christine Osborne

Images: www.worldreligions.co.uk

RAMADAN: THE GIFT OF HUNGER

Islam is not alone in advocating strict disciplines at significant times of the year.

Devout Christians do not consume red meat during Lent, Hindus eat only once a day during Shravan Navratas, Jews observe many taboos on Yom Kippur, but the sawm (fast) is particularly difficult for Muslims, since not a crumb of food, nor a drop of water, can pass their lips during the daylight hours of the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. Smoking and intimacy, between dawn and dusk, are also forbidden during Ramadan which lasts 29-30 days until the sighting of the new moon in Mecca.

The Islamic calendar is eleven days shorter than the civil one which means that Ramadan rotates backwards every year. It is hard enough, but summer temperatures in Arab countries push people to their limits. And in northern Europe, where the mid-summer sun does not set until after 21.00, Muslims must abstain for a punishing 15-16 hours.

Fasting is not obligatory for children, the elderly, pregnant women, those of unsound mind and travellers going more than 50 miles a day. However they are not wholly excused, and instead must offer kafarah requiring they feed a poor person, for each day missed.

Muslims fast not merely for atonement, but in an endeavour to become closer to God through self discipline. Fasting teaches devotion, patience, fortitude and understanding. A painful stomach and a dry mouth show how the poor suffer on a daily basis.

Fasting induces a lightness of being that is spiritual, as well as physical. Many people will perform an extra twenty rakkas (bendings) during prayers. Others spend the long hours in a mosque making complete readings of the Qur`an.

Ramadan is equally a social occasion bringing Muslims together in the knowledge that all are suffering irrespective of class. A feeling of goodwill prevails. People give generously, women prepare special dishes for iftar (the bear-fast) when food is also cooked for the less well off.

A typical day of Ramadan begins when the family rises to eat before the fast begins at dawn.

In Muslim countries many businesses close as people spend the time listening to Qur`anic recitals, reading and sleeping, until sunset approaches when they emerge to walk off the final minutes of the sawm.

Streets are crowded from Dubai to Djakarta until minutes before sunset, roads empty as everyone heads back home. In Doha, the break-fast is announced by firing a cannon: in Dacca, a water-seller smashes a coconut to signal he is open for a drink.

People eat only a little at first, starting with dates and soup. The main meal, taken later with family members and close friends, is an occasion when food is enjoyed all the more, for having gone so long without.

Festivities last late into the night. Ramadan lamps twinkle, foodstalls do a brisk trade in snacks and softdrinks, children run from house to house singing traditional ditties, parks are packed and roads are jammed with cars sounding their horns, but next morning when the fast begins again, you can hear a pin drop.

c.Christine Osborne

Image: Girl reading the Holy Qu`ran

Image: Poor workers enjoy a free iftar meal in Dubai

Source: www.worldreligions.co.uk