Baroness Warsi wore traditional dress for the first meeting of the new coalition Cabinet Photo: PA
TURKS.US
Saturday, November 17, 2012
Britain’s first Muslim cabinet minister has called on the Muslim community and other religious minorities to celebrate Christmas to help promote integration in the society.
“Being brought up – before the politically correct brigade got going – on harvest festivals, maypoles, Nativity plays, Christmas carols and the Lord’s Prayer, made me much more sure about my own identity,” Baroness Warsi said, The Daily Telegraph reported Monday, November 12.
“I didn’t feel it was all watered down to the lowest common denominator.”
In an earlier interview with the Sunday Mail, Conservative peer discussed how she celebrated Christmas with her family.
She insisted on sending out “proper, traditional” Christmas cards rather than “bland” multi-faith greetings.
“Why not? White people celebrate Diwali and `Eid,” she said. “And we all enjoy Bonfire Night.”
Christians celebrate Christmas Day on December 25.
Popular Christmas themes include the promotion of goodwill, giving, compassion, and quality family time.
British Muslims are estimated at nearly 2.5 million.
Some Muslims celebrate Christmas as the birth of Prophet Jesus Christ same as they celebrate the birth of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessing be upon him).
Muslims believe in Jesus as one of the great Prophets of God and that he is the son of Mary but not the Son of God. He was conceived and born miraculously.
In the Noble Qur’an, Jesus is called "Isa". He is also known as Al-Masih (the Christ) and Ibn Maryam (Son of Mary).
As for his crucifixion, Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified but was lifted up to heaven.
Muslims believe that Jesus will come back to earth before the end of time to restore peace and order, fight the Anti-Christ (Al-Masih Al-Dajjal) and bring victory for truth and righteousness.
The true followers of Jesus will prevail over those who deny him, misrepresent him and reject him.
Integration
The Muslim minister called for changing policies to help minorities integrate into British society.
She said the government needs to focus on the need to address discrimination in British society which includes the scourge of anti-Muslim hatred.
Citing statistics which show the British economy misses out £8.6 billion a year through failure to unlock the potential of its ethnic communities, Warsi described Britain’s diversity as its secret weapon.
She said the government needs to focus on the need to address discrimination in British society which includes the scourge of anti-Muslim hatred.
Hostility against British Muslims have been on the rise in recent years.
A Financial Times opinion poll showed that Britain is the most suspicious nation about Muslims.
A poll of the Evening Standard found that a sizable section of London residents harbor negative opinions about Muslims.
Last year, Baroness Warsi said Islamophobia has become an acceptable thing in British society.
Warsi opined that changing rules to help children speak English would help promote integration in Britain.
She said this hinders the growth of children and the proliferation of multilingual forms available for non-English speakers at hospitals, welfare offices and elsewhere only encourages people not to bother to learn English.
Statistics show that more than 800,000 schoolchildren do not use English as their first language.
Some 240 different languages are spoken in England’s schools including Punjabi, Urdu, Bengali, Somali and Polish. Some schools have more than 50 languages spoken.
The National Health Service and other public bodies spend £140 million annually translating documents into more than 100 languages.