Newsgroup: it.politica
Titolo: Basta con la condiscendenza verso gli immigrati !

www.telegraph.co.uk
 
Sunday 16 March 2003     
Hot cross banned: councils decree buns could be 'offensive' to 
non-Christians
By Chris Hastings and Elizabeth Day
(Filed: 16/03/2003) 
Schools across Britain have been ordered by local authorities to 
abandon the ancient tradition of serving hot cross buns at Easter so 
as not to offend children of non-Christian faiths.
Some councils are refusing to hand out the traditional treats 
because they fear that the symbol of the cross will spark complaints 
from Jewish, Hindu and Muslim pupils or their families.
Officials in the London borough of Tower Hamlets decided to remove 
the buns from menus this year after criticism over its decision to 
serve pancakes on Shrove Tuesday. A spokesman for the Labour-run 
council claimed that there had been "a lot" of complaints but did 
not have a figure.
The spokesman added: "We are moving away from a religious theme for 
Easter and will not be doing hot cross buns. We can't risk a similar 
outcry over Easter like the kind we had on Pancake Day. We will 
probably be serving naan breads instead."
In the past, invidivual schools have taken the decision to not 
serve hot cross buns, but this is the first time local authorities 
across the country have imposed blanket bans.
Liverpool council, which is controlled by the Liberal Democrats, 
also told The Telegraph that the symbol of the cross had the 
"potential to offend" and buns will no longer be served to children.
Despite this ruling, the council confirmed that it will continue to 
organise special menus to celebrate events as diverse as the Chinese 
New Year, Italian National Day and Russian Independence Day.
Other councils not serving hot cross buns include York, where 
Labour is the largest group, and Wolverhampton, which is Labour-run. 
Officials in Wakefield, which is also controlled by Labour, have 
decided it would be more appropriate to tailor the Easter menu to 
information technology. 
"We are not serving hot cross buns at all," said a spokesman. "Each 
term we try to come up with a menu which encourages children to 
think about different issues. This Easter term we chose information 
technology and did not even consider putting hot cross buns on the 
menu."
Ann Widdecombe, the Conservative MP and former shadow home 
secretary who is a Roman Catholic convert, described the ban as 
"appalling and absurd". "These people are silly asses," she said.
"It would appear that we should know about everyone else's culture 
apart from our Christian tradition. It seems that anything that 
comes from an ethnic minority is fine, while anything Christian is 
wrong.
"What can be more innocent than a hot cross bun? There's no more 
fun way to explain the Christian tradition to a child and it is not 
as if eating a hot cross bun automatically makes you a born-again 
Christian."
The Muslim Council of Britain called the decision "very, very 
bizarre". A spokesman said: "This is absolutely amazing. At the 
moment, British Muslims are very concerned about the upcoming war 
with Iraq and are hardly going to be taken aback by a hot cross bun.
"Unfortunately actions like this can only create a backlash and it 
is not very thoughtful. I wish they would leave us alone. We are 
quite capable of articulating our own concerns and if we find 
something offensive, we will say so. We do not need to rely on other 
people to do it for us.
"British Muslims have been quite happily eating and digesting hot 
cross buns for many years and I don't think they are suddenly going 
to be offended."
Although the buns and their distinctive symbols have been a feature 
of English life for nearly 2,000 years, they have not always been 
associated with Christianity.
The tradition dates back to pagan times when the cross represented 
the moon and its four quarters. It was claimed for the Christian 
church in 1361 when Father Thomas Rockcliffe distributed the buns to 
the poor of St Albans.
It became traditional to eat the buns on Good Friday after 
Elizabeth I passed a law limiting their consumption to religious 
festivals. Some local authorities such as Manchester have decided 
that they can keep hot cross buns on the menu while catering for 
other faiths.
A spokesman said: "We are in favour of diversity and will be 
catering for all tastes. We cover a wide geographical sweep and our 
menus are tailored to the ethnicity of various areas. We could serve 
naan breads or hot cross buns, depending on the demand."
A spokesman for Lincolnshire county council said: "We will be 
serving hot cross buns and have never experienced any problems with 
them."
Birmingham city council had put an outright ban on hot cross buns 
but relented on the decision following inquiries from the city's 
Anglican bishop, the Rt Revd John Sentamu. It has now told 
individual schools that they can request hot cross buns if they 
wish. 
Last year, the Food Standards Authority named hot cross buns as the 
healthiest option for those who wanted to indulge themselves at 
Easter. On a weight-for-weight basis, the buns were found to contain 
the lowest amount of sugar and fat as well as having the highest 
fibre and lowest calorie content.
A spokesman for the Church of England last night said that there 
was no reason why any school should should stop serving hot cross 
buns. 
He said: "I see nothing wrong with anything which encourages 
children to remember that it is Easter time. Easter has its own 
special symbols and the hot cross bun is one of them. People who do 
not want to eat the buns do not have to."
He added: "It is difficult to understand how anything which is 
ancillary to the celebration of Easter can create so much offence."
 
© Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2003.
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E' inaudito. La mentalità di rinunciare a simboli e tradizioni
appartenenti all'identità etnoculturale dei popoli europei
per non offendere gli immigrati sta diffondendosi sempre più.
Chi si sente offeso o discriminato dalle usanze europee è libero
di tornare nel deserto o nella jungla natia...
Iniziative simili poi partono sempre dalle autorità locali, sempre
pronte ad inchinarsi al primo imam di passaggio, per timore di perdere
voti e/o di atti di terrorismo.
Bisogna porre fine a questo stato di cose. Tolleranza e accoglienza
non devono implicare la rinuncia alla propria identità etnoculturale
in casa propria.
Altrimenti, perchè non aboliamo la Domenica, il Natale, la Pasqua
stessa, per non offendere gli immigrati ?
E le nazioni europee che hanno uno o più simboli della croce sulla 
propria bandiera, UK compreso, perchè non lo eliminano per non
offendere i maomettani o gli ebrei ?! Basta, siamo al grottesco.
L'Europa agli Europei.
--

 in casa propria.
Sottoscrivo.
Clas