Parents and staffers alike at a school in London are livid after the headmaster altered the lyrics of “Away In A Manger”. The school changed the beloved Christmas carol “in the name of inclusion and political correctness.”
School Removes “Lord” From Christmas Carol Lyrics
Fox News reported that Zakia Khatun, the headteacher of Whitehall Primary School in East London, informed students that they will no longer be allowed to sing the word “Lord” in the song “Away In A Manger.” They will be replacing it with the words “little baby” so “all pupils” could participate in the annual Nativity play.
One mother told reporters that she was “shocked” when she found out about the change.
“I picked up my children 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,'” the furious mother said.
Khatun defended herself to parents. She said that around 60 of the 500 children at the school did not attend last year’s Nativity play because of religious beliefs.
The mother continued, “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.”
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Another Mother Responds
Another angry mother, who is a former police officer, described the change as utterly unacceptable. She compared taking “Lord” out of “Away In A Manger” to to taking “Christ” out of Christmas.
“If he was just a baby boy named Jesus, there wouldn’t be a celebration in the first place,” the mother said. “He is our Lord and Saviour and King of all Kings – that’s the whole point.”
She went on to accuse Khatun and the school of discriminating against Christians.
“Ms. Khatun doesn’t want the people who don’t have the same beliefs to feel excluded, yet it’s okay to exclude Christians,” the mother said.
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The former bishop of Rochester in the Church of England responded with just how important the word Lord is to Christians everywhere.
“The words ‘the Lord Jesus’ occur three times in the carol and point to the central message of Christmas which is: God is with us in Jesus. Everything in the Church, where the Nativity play is being held, points to this central truth of the Christian Faith,” Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali explained.
“If parents do not wish their children to participate in a Christian Nativity play and any accompanying worship, they should be able to opt out and the school should provide an alternate activity for such children,” he added. “But basic Christian teaching should not be changed just to accommodate everybody.”
Christian Concern Demands School Reverse Decision
Andrea Williams, CEO of the watchdog group Christian Concern, is calling on the school to reverse their decision to alter the lyrics of “Away In A Manger”.
“Removing the Lordship of Christ at Christmas guts the Christian message of its truth around which the whole of Western civilization once based its culture,” Williams said. “Let’s put the Lord Jesus Christ back into Christmas.”
However, the school is standing by their decision. They’re doing this so the Nativity is “accessible to all our children to participate in, together, as one.”
Unfortunately, this kind of discrimination against Christians in the name of political correctness is happening all over the world. Liberals are taking it upon themselves to stamp out as many symbols of Christianity as they can.
This serves as a reminder that the War on Christmas is very much a real thing. And, we need to go above and beyond to protect the Christian traditions we hold dear.