Primary school head 'cancels' Easter

[AlteredStater]

Well, Evangelist Joe Kirby says it all, re the latest outrage of Easter being cancelled in the interests of 'diversity' (which apparently applies to every religion apart from Christianity) at a Hampshire primary school:

https://www.christian.org.uk/news/primary-school-cancels-easter-service-over-inclusivity-drive/

Joe's response:

The UK is a post Christian country.
I’m not surprised, but I am sad.

Personally, I believe it’s divine judgement - reaping what has been sown, as the speaker says.

"The school has said the changes were made in consultation with parents and that Easter would still be celebrated at the school with various activities and events."

"In a statement, a spokesperson for the school said: "To be clear, we are marking Easter in school and as with other religious festivals, children continue to learn about and celebrate Easter both educationally in our RE lessons and in our assemblies across the whole half term." "

It was massively blown out of proportion by some tabloid press. This is direct from the BBC website.

Hmmm the last part of the BBC article says:

Among those to criticise the decision was former home secretary Suella Braverman, who said: "This isn't inclusivity; it's cultural surrender. Britain's Christian roots are being erased by spineless leaders who'd rather appease than preserve," she added.

I agree.

Also higher up:

In her initial letter to parents, Miss Mander explained that the decision had been made "in the spirit of inclusivity and respect for the diverse religious beliefs represented" in the school's community.

How on earth is deleting religious events 'inclusive'?? They're educational, and teachers should be using the events as teaching opportunities.

"Our school is committed to fostering an environment where every child feels valued and respected, regardless of their religious background," she said in the letter. By not holding specific religious celebrations, we aim to create a more inclusive atmosphere that honours and respects the beliefs of all our children and their families."

I don't see how holding a religious festival event can make a child feel less valued. It's just watering down our country's belief system, till we don't have one at all. Meanwhile we have King Charles holding an Eid celebration at Buckingham Palace, which is not at all inclusive to Christians, but then we don't count and should just put up and shut up I guess.

As for 'we'll still be celebrating with various activities' - well that'll be egg hunts and art work, nothing about Christ's sacrifice for us all.

Personally I don't think this has been blown out of proportion at all!

It's clear that they weren't actually cancelling Easter. They just decided not to do the church service.

I think it is easy to jump on tabloid headlines without looking at what is actually happening. Worth bearing in mind the story was first published in the Mail.

I appreciate that in your recently started threads you are trying to raise awareness of things that concern you. They feel slightly political / divisive to me. I'd love to see a thread from you about something positive that we can all get behind. Why don't you tell us a bit about your faith / testimony or something? That would be lovely.

I don't read tabloids at all, I don't read any newspapers. I first heard of this story on YouTube, and Fr Phil Harris is one of my pastors, so I know more about him than just a tabloid headline!

Sigh. I thought eventually someone would say what you have just said, about my threads (2 only so far, so it's not really fair to judge, is it?) being 'divisive'. Yes potentially they are, but they are there to hopefully make people think, think hard about what's going on. Christianity isn't all niceness and positivity. Jesus told us as much, that we'd have trials and tribulation. Yes these topics concern me, but they should concern ALL Christians, and I'm seeing it on Catholic Unscripted videos as well, and I'm not even a Catholic, but they're flagging up similar incidents.

I'm not sure you know more about the school situation. But I'll leave you to it.

I think it’s worth remembering that our Lord prophesied certain distinctive conditions on the earth, which will be noticeable prior to His return.

Among these are the statement
“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. And there will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes in various places.”
Matthew 24:7

The word in this verse translated as “nation” is ἔθνος : ethnos.

I often wonder if we are seeing something of that in the rising tensions between different communities in many countries around the world.

And I'm sure you don't either.

What has really upset me about your posts is not that you are questioning the actual situation that has or hasn't happened at that School, that's fine, but that you have then gone on to basically tell me to post 'positive' things 'we can all get behind'. It feels like you are trying to silence me from posting anything more than fluffy 'feel good' threads. If you want those types of threads, then you're free to post them yourself. I won't be controlled by what you want.

I'm in education and have a lot of experience of the press blowing things out of proportion so I am reluctant to support a thread like this.

The reason I'm encouraging you to find something positive to post about is because there have been a lot of lovely threads on this section of MN that have brought a lot of us together. It's a shame for you not to be part of that. 1 Cor 1:10 - good to focus on what unites us. Both of your posts have two sides even amongst Christians.

I really don't expect you to be controlled by what I want... But maybe by what Jesus wants?

I have two schools in my parishes. One is a church school and we had the whole school in church last week with a celebration of Easter. The children led the service and the prayers. My other school is a community school and they learn about Easter in RE but they haven’t come to church in recent years. To bridge the gap I went into school with my organist and we taught the children a hymn. I’ve also been into school RE lessons so that the children can ask a practising Christian questions rather than just rely on the textbook. I love doing this. Not all ministers are comfortable doing this but there really should be a module on not taking yourself too seriously when teaching hymns and action songs in all theological colleges!

I’m honestly shocked by this post.
Seriously, I had to re-read it several times.

Just incredibly patronising and full of assumptions. I can’t get my head around why @ChristmasStars would think this appropriate to send to another Christian, especially one who has been a positive contributor. 🤔

I’m a Catholic. This is a community school so secular ethos, not a church school. I went to a community school, only because the Catholic one could not accommodate my disability. We learnt about all religions. We had a Christian headteacher who had prayers at the end of assembly (state school and was supposed to have something broadly Christian at that time). It was an extremely effective turn off to any of my friends who were Christian background but didn’t go to church, were atheist or not interested. To me it felt disrespectful to Christianity to have young people bowing their head and going through the action without the meaning or belief of prayer

This feels like a bandwagon. I think If churches are open and welcoming, in the community and living Christianity then young people will see that and may ask questions and come to faith. There is a place for evangelisation but not as part of secular state school education.

@LeaningOnTheEverlastingArms I am sorry you're so offended. I really am not sure why. I'm pretty shocked that someone would come in and start two threads on pretty divisive topics that not all Christians are going to agree on, and all I have done is try to say that and ask that we look for common ground. I genuinely don't understand why that's shocking, but it's really not my intention to cause upset. I would really hope that this section could be encouraging all round.

And I in turn am shocked that you would find those 2 topics so divisive! I posted in good faith thinking fellow Christians need to be aware as to what's going on. One day you may wish you'd taken more notice of those things.

Offended? No.
Just very surprised that you have never seen anything posted here before by our sister @AlteredStater that you thought was positive or encouraging?
I know I have.

And that you thought it appropriate to scold her in the way you did - it just feels so discouraging and unnecessary.

Not everyone will see things your way, or mine- and that’s ok.

In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity.

@AlteredStater you know your first thread was going to be divisive. You said it was about a man who was booted out by his church so clearly there were Christians who found him problematic - or are you suggesting they weren't Christians?

It's really sad that this thread has come to this. I won't be responding any more or following any notifications if you tag me back to here.

I'm not suggesting anything. If you want to know more about what actually happened with Fr Phil Harris then I suggest you watch the videos I've linked about it. I've a feeling you haven't watched any.

I'm not bothered whether you respond or not. As far as I'm concerned I've a clear conscience over what I posted.

This is a school near me. The reporting has been seriously misleading and people have jumped on the bandwagon after just reading an inaccurate headline.

@LeaningOnTheEverlastingArms Now that's interesting....

In Ancient Greek, ἔθνος (ethnos) translates to "nation" or "people" and has a broader meaning including "tribe," "ethnic group," and "foreign people". It also can refer to a "multitude" or "company" of people, whether human or animal. In the context of the Bible, it can signify "Gentiles" or "heathens," contrasting with the Jewish people.

It was a 'shock/horror' headline, created for click bait by the tabloids. The same sort of thing happens at Christmas.

However, it is true that our Christian Faith, the one that has formed our laws and culture over many hundreds of years, is being sidelined by those who would rule over us, including those who have control over the youngest and most impressionable of minds in schools. The Bible tells us that this will be increasingly so.

Personally, I can't imagine any Christian being happy at the reduction of our Faith. I think it is a topic worthy of discussion and it is a sharp reminder to keep short accounts as none of us know the day when Christ will return. Thank you @AlteredStater for starting the thread.

As for it being 'divisive' as a topic, I guess that Biblical Truth and those who stand up for it, could be perceived that way - that is what makes it more imperative that we speak out (whilst it is still legal to do so!)

I very much believe we must speak out whilst we still can. The day is coming when it will be far harder and more dangerous. Some of our brothers and sisters in other countries of course know and experience this already, and Church history is full of trials.

We are seeing the start of it here in the UK. A young woman singing Christian songs in a high street being harassed and intimidated by a PCSO; the same happening to street preachers; the same to people standing silently in prayer; people being told to remove/hide a cross necklace at work; a man of God being ousted by his church ... just the tip of the iceberg.