Felix the Cat
12-04-2005, 10:36 AM
Christmas proclamation under fire from Jewish group (http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/12/01/christmasoxford051201.html)
A motion proclaiming December the Christmas season in the town of Oxford, N.S., has drawn criticism from members of a Jewish group in Atlantic Canada.
"I'm somewhat taken aback that the town councillors felt they had to legislate in this manner," Jon Goldberg, executive director of the Atlantic Jewish Congress, said in an interview with the Halifax Chronicle Herald on Thursday.
"I can't help wondering what is next. Are they going to legislate that everyone has to go to church on Christmas Eve?"
Oxford town council also decreed earlier this week that Christmas would be the only name used to describe the holiday season because "the holiday originated from the birth of Jesus Christ."
Deputy mayor Leonard Allen, who introduced the motion, said he hoped other towns would follow suit. He also said he'd like schools to go back to calling their holiday concerts Christmas concerts.
Last week, hackles were raised when Boston city officials announced they would call a donated spruce tree a holiday tree rather than a Christmas tree.
The 16-metre tree was donated by Nova Scotia as part of its annual thank you to New England for work and services provided after the Halifax explosion in 1917. Boston officials justified the name change, saying they felt it would be more inclusive if the word Christmas was dropped.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows Canadians to practice the religion of their choice, but Goldberg said he was concerned Oxford's motion "could be misconstrued as a diminution of such freedoms."
"As I've said a number of times, we have no objections to the celebration of Christmas," Goldberg said. "I'm shocked that they felt, as Christians, that they had to use the power of legislation to celebrate such a wonderful holiday.
He says that people in the Jewish community recognize that the majority of the people in the province are Christian and "we want to work with them and their families toward peace and goodwill, which I believe is the true spirit of Christmas."
A motion proclaiming December the Christmas season in the town of Oxford, N.S., has drawn criticism from members of a Jewish group in Atlantic Canada.
"I'm somewhat taken aback that the town councillors felt they had to legislate in this manner," Jon Goldberg, executive director of the Atlantic Jewish Congress, said in an interview with the Halifax Chronicle Herald on Thursday.
"I can't help wondering what is next. Are they going to legislate that everyone has to go to church on Christmas Eve?"
Oxford town council also decreed earlier this week that Christmas would be the only name used to describe the holiday season because "the holiday originated from the birth of Jesus Christ."
Deputy mayor Leonard Allen, who introduced the motion, said he hoped other towns would follow suit. He also said he'd like schools to go back to calling their holiday concerts Christmas concerts.
Last week, hackles were raised when Boston city officials announced they would call a donated spruce tree a holiday tree rather than a Christmas tree.
The 16-metre tree was donated by Nova Scotia as part of its annual thank you to New England for work and services provided after the Halifax explosion in 1917. Boston officials justified the name change, saying they felt it would be more inclusive if the word Christmas was dropped.
The Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows Canadians to practice the religion of their choice, but Goldberg said he was concerned Oxford's motion "could be misconstrued as a diminution of such freedoms."
"As I've said a number of times, we have no objections to the celebration of Christmas," Goldberg said. "I'm shocked that they felt, as Christians, that they had to use the power of legislation to celebrate such a wonderful holiday.
He says that people in the Jewish community recognize that the majority of the people in the province are Christian and "we want to work with them and their families toward peace and goodwill, which I believe is the true spirit of Christmas."