Parents’ outrage as school tells children not to sing ‘Lord’ in Christmas carol classic

From Premier Radio, Britains best Christian channel and the local newspaper the Waltham Forest Guardian. Regular readers might remember that I spent the greater part of my youth and young adulthood living in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. Chingford is the posher of the three former single boroughs, the one still being islamised. 

Parents of children at a primary school in Essex are appalled after the head teacher ruled that children should sing ‘baby boy Jesus’ rather than ‘little Lord Jesus’ in the Christmas carol, Away in a Manger – so that pupils of all beliefs can join in.

Pupils at Whitehall Primary School in Chingford, Essex, have also been told to sing edited versions of two modern hymns when they attend a carol service and nativity at a nearby church on Tuesday. The clergy should have stepped in – they are having an interegnum at the moment but I do wonder if one of the associate ministers did. 

The word ‘Lord’ features five times in the most common version of ‘Away In A Manger’ and expresses the belief that Jesus is divine.

Instead, youngsters are being instructed to sing ‘baby boy Jesus’ rather than ‘little Lord Jesus’ and the words ‘Jesus the saviour’ in the carol ‘Love Shone Down’ have been replaced with ‘Jesus the baby’.

The words ‘new King born today’ in the carol ‘Come And Join The Celebration’ have been tweaked to ‘a baby born today’.

A mother of two sons who attends the school a former, Metropolitan Police officer, said the changes were utterly unacceptable and likened it to taking ‘Christ’ out of Christmas. The 36-year-old has argued that changing the lyrics in the songs is removing the British tradition of telling the famous story many people associate with Christmas.

She said: “My kids are being stopped from having the freedom to express their beliefs. They are shocked.” But the mother believes the school is now discriminating against Christian pupils she said: “We live in a multicultural society, so we should respect other beliefs but unfortunately Christianity is not getting respect. Ms Khatun doesn’t want the people who don’t have the same beliefs to feel excluded, yet it’s OK to exclude Christians.”

At a school meeting on Friday, December 13, the mother of two claimed that headteacher Zakia Khatun defended her decision, insisting the school is inclusive of all children…the head reinforced the decision despite parents saying they had not been properly informed.

Last year 60 children from the primary school did not attend the carol service and nativity at St Peter and St Paul Church in Chingford because of their religious beliefs.

One mother of children at the school, Margarita said: “I picked my children up at the end of the day and they were so upset, saying to me: ‘Mummy, today in assembly the head teacher told everybody that she would be changing the words to the Christmas song.’ I was so shocked. As a family we go to church, pray together and celebrate Christmas as the birth of Jesus as the Son of God.”

Commenting on why the removal of the word ‘Lord’ for Christians is so significant, Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali said: “We need to respect the original form of the carol and the intention with which it was written. The words the ‘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.
“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, but basic Christian teaching should not be changed just to accommodate everybody.”

A spokesman for the Diocese of Chelmsford, which includes St Peter and St Paul Church, said: “The service maintains the traditional Christian message of the joy of Christmas in a way that can be celebrated by everyone, including those of other faiths and none.”

Zakia Khatun has only been head mistress since September; she came from not just another school but another borough (if I have the right Miss Khatun) . So how did she know that 60 children didn’t  attend last year? How did she know that was their reason? Who gave her that little nugget of information? And is it a correct figure? Inquiring minds want to know. 
I think I gather from the comments under the local newspaper that she is not proving popular amongst some parents. 

I agree with Melanie McDonagh in the Telegraph 

Mess with carols at your peril 

Whitehall Primary School in Chingford, north-east London, is staging a Christmas celebration in a church, which features the carol Away in a Manger, only with “Little Lord Jesus” (no crying he makes) replaced with “baby boy Jesus”. The head, Zakia Khatun, says this is so “all the pupils can participate”.

Look, a Christmas carol is a celebration of the Incarnation: just live with it. The idea is to generate goodwill. But censoring carols just makes me want to punch someone.