Fairytale Day?

A preschool centre operated by Brimbank Council here in Melbourne has given up celebrating Christmas this year, preferring instead to establish its own festival called "Fairytale Day".

Callers to talkback radio were strongly against the change, as were the talkback hosts. There seemed to be agreement that this was a case of multiculturalism gone too far.

The parents are right to object, particularly as the demand for change seems to have come from council officers rather than from local Muslims. It's another small example of liberal intolerance to long-established traditions that people have a natural attachment to.

However, the parents also need to be clear-minded. It makes little sense to defend Christmas on the one hand, but to support mass immigration and multiculturalism on the other. As non-Christian populations grow, the place of public festivals like Christmas and Easter will inevitably be undermined.

It's sad to say, but a multiculture could never deliver anything like the traditional Christmas experience, in which a whole community gathers around a cherished religious festival. This is a loss in which we are impoverished, rather than enriched, by multiculturalism.