By BRIDGET COOK
THE view that Christmas celebrations offend non-Christians is sparked from those of no religious background rather than other faiths.
That is the view of the Casey Multifaith Network president Jim Reiher, who believes there are a number of misconceptions about the Christmas debate that seems to pop up each year.
Last week the News reported that Casey council voted unanimously in favour of advising occupants of council facilities in the strongest way possible that Casey advocates the celebration of Christmas, as well as Easter and other religious festivals, in all of its facilities.
Councillor Gary Rowe said political correctness had gone mad and asked all councillors to support his call to restore the true meaning of Christmas.
The debate popped up after hearing about organisations, in both Casey and neighbouring municipalities, not celebrating Christmas in a traditional manner out of fear of offending other religious backgrounds.
Mr Reiher said since being involved in the Casey Multifaith Network, which has representatives from various religions, he believed it was not other faiths that were offended at all.
“Sometimes we are led to believe that people of other faiths are offended by our Christmas celebrations and traditions,” he said.
“I want to disagree with that last statement.
“What I have found over the years is that people of other faiths are not offended or concerned if we celebrate Christmas.
“The overwhelming majority of people who live here and who practice religions other than Christianity, are quite happy for our culture to celebrate its traditional way.”
Mr Reiher said the people who tended to get upset were more often some, not all, white Aussies with no religion or who were a particular kind of atheist.
“Indeed, some angry non-religious folk, actually use people of other faiths to cloak their own hostility to religious traditions and celebrations.
“No Muslim, Jew, Buddhist or Hindu that I have met, has ever complained about nativity scenes.
“I’m sure there is a minority in any faiths that think theirs is the only religion allowed, and sometimes they get a bit of a voice, but I think they are a tiny minority.”
Mr Reiher said having been involved in multifaith and interfaith networks for the past seven years, all he had found were people from all religions tolerant to others.
“It is usually only Easter and Christmas that gets these conversations started,” he said.
“Maybe because Christianity is the major, traditional religion in Australia, it may be a target of criticism.
“You never hear that Muslims shouldn’t be able to celebrate Ramadan, or anything like that.
“I have only found people to be gracious of Christian traditions, just as they want others to be understanding of theirs.
“They are just happy to be living in a wonderful country that allows them the freedom to practice their own religion and to celebrate their own special events.
“They know that if you begin restricting it for one, you end up restricting it for all.
“Let’s be careful about ridiculing the customs and traditions of celebrations like Christmas.
“Whether you are religious or not, we should be keen to demonstrate tolerance and respect for those who are not the same as ourselves.”
Mr Reiher said he had one last message to the community.
“We, the Multifaith Network, wish everybody from all religions or non-religious backgrounds a wonderful Christmas, and that all of us can be gracious, tolerant and happy with diversity,” he said.
