To the Editor:
Imagine our National Anthem relegated to third place, followed by the National Anthem of India. This is how Principal Macfarlane and Vice-Principal Benoit ran the show at my daughter's Christmas concert at Osoyoos Elementary School.
Things went downhill from there.
How many times do you think Oh Canada is heard over in India? Canadians live there, but outside of sporting events, is it ever heard? You can rest assured you'll never hear any national anthem other than the Indian National Anthem at one of India's festive, religious celebrations.
Why is it that on the one-way street of global multiculturalism, Canada is expected to carry the weight of the world's cultures upon its shoulders while the cultures we welcome to our shores remain fundamentally jingoistic?
And not only was loyalty to Canada undermined, Christ Himself was eliminated.
Only the Jesuits earned honorable mention in the program because they celebrated the first Christmas in Canada. But rather than follow up with something Christian (like a prayer perhaps? Anyone?) the brief telling of this story was followed by a bizarre Indian song, this time of North American origin, sung in a language that even Indians don't speak anymore. Since some Indians apparently celebrated Christmas with the Jesuits way back when, Macfarlane and Benoit decided it was appropriate to put Indian cultural heritage front and centre.
Things then got worse.
Chinese New Year dominated the second half of the program, with little kids chanting "Gung Hay Fat Choy! Gung Hay Fat Choy!" like good little proletarian automatons. This is especially galling for Christians, especially at a Christmas concert, because everyone knows Chairman Mao hunted down and murdered every single Christian missionary in China along with 70-million innocent Chinese people whom he deemed too Western and Christian for his liking. And besides, Chinese New Year won't even be celebrated for another month and a half! So why mention it at a Christmas concert?
The premise for all of this multiculturalism was supposedly to let parents see how Christmas is celebrated around the world. But let's be clear: Christmas is NOT celebrated in India and China, so there goes that rationale for being completely un-Canadian and essentially non-Christian.
The highlight of this globalist drivel was a brief stop in Australia. At least Aussies are Christian, right? But Bethlehem was never mentioned. Not once. You've hopefully heard of Bethlehem. It's sometimes remembered as the place where Mary gave birth to Jesus. But, alas, once Jesus has been scrupulously removed from a Christmas program like a tumor from your lung - along with Mary, Joseph, the manger, the wise men and the shining star that guided them to Bethlehem - it would appear that mention of the actual location of Jesus' birth at a concert purporting to celebrate His birth is rendered superfluous.
There was not a single cross anywhere in the auditorium. Not one. The only elements that were even remotely "Christmassy" were some Christmas Carols, a paper Christmas tree taped to the wall along with some paper wreaths and tin soldiers, all of which brought the expression "whoopee-ding" to mind as I took it all in.
The low point came when one class sang "No matter what you believe, believe it this Christmas Eve" while their teacher strummed an out-of-tune guitar. But we're not supposed to believe whatever we want. We're supposed to believe that Christ was born and that his message of love is everlasting. And if you don't believe that, then for God's sake don't celebrate His birthday!
Compliments to my daughter's teacher, Mrs. Crowe-Smith, who's class sang "Light a candle for peace, light a candle for love," a beautiful tribute to the message that Jesus Christ brought to us. Beyond that, the entire show was an abomination. Macfarlane and Benoit have every reason to be completely ashamed.
Mischa Popoff, Osoyoos, BC.
