Every year i hear one or two chavs shout Christmas is being banned “all over the country”.

Does anyone have any inside knowledge of this? Its like a modern myth designed to attack Muslims and other minorities...here are some comments i just read on the Daily Mail site on a article posted today


"Enjoy Christmas before it's declared,"Offensive" in our U.K."

"Another tradition on it way out. Very sad indeed. Especially when the reason for xmas is being made to be offensive."

"I didn't think we were 'allowed' to celebrate Christmas anymore for risk of being something that ends with an 'ist'"

People in the Daily Mail comments section get their 'facts' from people in the Daily Mail comments section. It's self perpetuating claptrap.

Indeed.

Person A: "I read that Xmas has been banned"
Person B reads person A's comment: "I read that Xmas has been banned, it's probably due to religion."
Person C reads person B's comment: "I read that Xmas has been banned because of Muslims"

And so it goes on.

so what are this year's "war on Christmas" stories?

I mean there must be some, but nothing egregious

I still occasionally see stuff about "Winterval" ... it was almost 20 years ago for heaven's sake! (Long story short for the uninitiated: For two years in the late 1990s, Birmingham held a series of public events in November/December that included Christmas, Diwali, Children in Need, other stuff like ice-skating, etc. So they chose "Winterval" as a generic name. The tabloids seized on this and claimed it was part of a plot to rebrand Christmas as Winterval, even though the events did include Christmas celebrations)

Adding on from what Seventhwave said, have a listen to (or read of transcript).

http://www.theallusionist.org/allusionist/winterval

What drives me mad is how people who I know that have moved away from the UK post such crap on Facebook.

FGS, they're not even in the country and they're spreading total rubbish because some moron from Britain First has posted something that they've seized upon as fact.

Grrrrrr.... (rant over )

Interesting use of the word "chavs" in the first sentence, an attack on a minority perhaps?

It sells papers to gullible, simple minded buffoons.

Thing is, the UK seems to have become even more Christmas-y over the years, with all the Christmas fairs we have everywhere now etc.

Xmas is alive and kicking in central London. I think people are encouraged to spend, spend and spend some more so for now at least Xmas is very much still here and isn't going anywhere. If it's "being banned because of Muslims" then what about Jewish and Hindu special days in the UK for example? Are they "being banned" too? I really don't think Xmas is being banned at all. There's so much money to be made after all and some shop owners cashing in are Muslim.

I can't help but think if there is a war, it's the most poorly executed plan ever. Do the people who spout this rubbish step foot in any shops post-Halloween? Christmas tat as far as the eye can see, aisle after aisle, like the North Pole had a giant sh!t in every retail shop.

my definition of a chav is someone who is extremely stupid, uneducated, ignorant and full of hate....sadly i have a few family members like this, i have to bite my tongue whenever i am around them

This 'Christmas Under Attack' thing dates back a long time, though the threat has varied over time. The Soviets, Communists and Socialists have all been blamed, as have Jews, atheists, commercialisation, the 'loony' left, homosexuals, in fact pretty much anyone certain parts of the more right-wing conservative parts of the press (and public) have issues with.

Indeed..

A few stores around my area start selling Christmas related items in September.

Sounds like you are denigrating a minority.

Chavs definitely aren't a minority.

Are you related to him?

Wow, I didn't realise that chavs (a derogatory term if ever I saw one) were the majority in the uk.

There are slightly fewer males than females in the UK population, but we don't consider men to be a minority.

chavs are children, reclaim the word

The word Christmas, I love Christmas. I love Christmas. You go to stores, you don’t see the word Christmas. It says happy holidays all over. Where’s Christmas? I tell my wife, ‘Don’t go to those stores.’

Thats very Trumpish

Where are you trying to go with this? Is there slightly fewer chavs in the U.K. compared to non-chavs? At what percentage can we denigrate a minority but feel frightful for doing it to a minority where the percentage is lower? Please let me know because looking from the outside there seems to be a bit of bigotry going on.

Minority status is usually taken to denote power status more than numbers. I used to the term chav so that the reply made sense. It's not a term I tend to use myself.

Would you say chavs have a high power status? The fact it's a derogatory term suggests not.