“Silent Night” Was a Lot More Silent Than Usual at This Middle School (Anti)Christmas Concert

A middle school in Long Island, New York is the latest to jump on the anti-Christian Christmas bandwagon. Their version of “Silent Night” had a lot more silences than normal, because Ralph J. Osgood Intermediate School decided, for some reason, to include the song in the school’s concert, while carefully removed all references to Jesus.  Edited out were “holy infant,” “Christ the savior,” and  “round young virgin mother and child”.

One might question the inclusion of this religious song in their concert if the school officials intended to remove the religion from it.  Wouldn’t secular songs be less offensive, like “Jingle Bells” or “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”?  Isn’t it more offensive to change a Christian song and try to make it non-Christian in order to not offend those of other beliefs, than it is to leave the Christian song out altogether?

Some of the parents who attended the concert were outraged.

“Any reference to what the song was about — the birth of Christ, ’round young virgin mother and child’ — all of those things were omitted from the version that the children sang beautifully,” said Jackie McDonald, a mother who walked out of the performance.

“To choose to sing ‘Silent Night’ and eviscerate the meaning of the song was not appropriate,” McDonald told CBS 2′s Carolyn Gusoff.

Some parents said the school should have chosen a different song.

“It’s offensive,” one father told Gusoff. “If you’re going to remove words to not offend other religions, what about the religion that that song belongs to, which is Christianity?” (source)

CBS News reported that the children sang a song in Hebrew at the concert, but were quick to add that the song was non-religious in nature.

There seems to be an all-out war this year on Christmas. Being a Christian at Christmas is simply not politically correct, particularly if anyone else knows that you are.  In order not to offend those of other religions, one must apparently make only vague references to “the holidays”.

Arguments have erupted regarding whether Merry Christmas is an appropriate greeting or if one must carefully wish a person, “Happy Holidays” in order to be politically correct. One elementary school PTA in Texas sent out an email regarding the “Winter Party”, warning that there could be no mention of Christmas and no red or green clothing.  A Massachusetts family received a hateful anonymous letter complaining about their traditional Christmas decorations.

With all of the care taken not to offend those of other religions, when will “they” begin to worry about offending Christians?