Parents outraged after primary school asks students to say 'baby boy Jesus' instead of 'lord Jesus' while singing ‘Away In A Manger’
Controversy hit Whitehall Primary School in Chingford, Essex after the primary school asked students not to sing the word “Lord” in the Christmas carol ‘Away In A Manger’. The intention was to include people of all faiths in the singing. Of course, Christian parents were unhappy with it.
Headteacher Zakia Khatun’s rules effectively state that children sing “baby boy Jesus” instead of “little Lord Jesus”. Students have also been told to sing edited versions of two modern hymns when they attend a carol service and nativity play at a nearby church.
The words “Jesus the savior” in the carol ‘Love Shone Down’ have, as per the Daily Mail, been replaced with “Jesus the baby”, while the words “new King born today” in the carol ‘Come And Join The Celebration’ have been replaced with “a baby born today”.
Per the same report, a furious mother, a former Metropolitan Police officer, said the changes were utterly unacceptable and likened it to taking “Christ” out of Christmas. The 36-year-old woman said, “If he was just a baby boy named Jesus, there wouldn't be a celebration in the first place. He is our Lord and Saviour and King of all Kings – that's the whole point,” adding, “It is also a tradition – it is taking away the traditions of the country.”
She told the Daily Mail that her two sons, aged nine and 11, who go to church and Sunday school, were very upset when Whitehall's headteacher announced that the words of the carols would be changed. She said, “My kids are being stopped from having the freedom to express their beliefs. They are shocked.”
She further said. “We live in a multicultural society, so we should respect other beliefs but unfortunately Christianity is not getting respect,” adding, “Ms. Khatun doesn't want the people who don't have the same beliefs to feel excluded, yet it's OK to exclude Christians.”
Bishop Michael Nazir-Ali, a former Bishop of Rochester, told the Daily Mail, “This is a carol known throughout the world. The words 'Lord Jesus' are about the central message of Christmas, which is that God is with us in Jesus. To put it very simply that's what Christmas is about.”
Similar to the mother’s complaint, Andrea Williams, the chief executive of a campaign group called “Christian Concern”, said, “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.”
A spokesman for the school, which has 485 pupils, said, “We are a community school serving children from a range of faith backgrounds. In the past, not all were able to come together to celebrate Christmas, so we have worked hard with our local church to ensure the celebrations this year are accessible to all our children to participate in, together, as one.”