Oxford (Nova Scotia) Makes Christmas the Season

The town of Oxford is making sure no other word but "Christmas" is used to describe the holiday season within town limits.

The town council unanimously passed a motion on Monday proclaiming that the entire month of December should be referred to as the "Christmas season," because the holiday originated from the birth of Jesus Christ.

Deputy Mayor Leonard Allen says there was no one incident that prompted his motion, only that he believes the word "Christmas" seems to be disappearing.

"I think we live in a free county where we have the right to celebrate things the way as they are, and I don't see the need to change the name to 'holiday season' or 'mid-winter break' to make it politically correct," he said.

The proclamation is not a bylaw, so no one can be charged for calling the season something other than "Christmas."

Allen says he only wants "Christmas to be Christmas," and that non-Christians still have the right to celebrate their religion.

Although he expects there are people who disagree with him, Allen says he has heard from many supporters and even some towns that want to follow Oxford's lead.

The follow up ...

Source

Christmas proclamation under fire from Jewish group

CBC News
December 1, 2005

A motion proclaiming December the Christmas season in the town of Oxford, N.S., has drawn criticism from members of a Jewish group in Atlantic Canada.

"I'm somewhat taken aback that the town councillors felt they had to legislate in this manner," Jon Goldberg, executive director of the Atlantic Jewish Congress, said in an interview with the Halifax Chronicle Herald on Thursday.

"I can't help wondering what is next. Are they going to legislate that everyone has to go to church on Christmas Eve?"

Oxford town council also decreed earlier this week that Christmas would be the only name used to describe the holiday season because "the holiday originated from the birth of Jesus Christ."

Deputy mayor Leonard Allen, who introduced the motion, said he hoped other towns would follow suit. He also said he'd like schools to go back to calling their holiday concerts Christmas concerts.

Last week, hackles were raised when Boston city officials announced they would call a donated spruce tree a holiday tree rather than a Christmas tree.

The 16-metre tree was donated by Nova Scotia as part of its annual thank you to New England for work and services provided after the Halifax explosion in 1917. Boston officials justified the name change, saying they felt it would be more inclusive if the word Christmas was dropped.

The Charter of Rights and Freedoms allows Canadians to practice the religion of their choice, but Goldberg said he was concerned Oxford's motion "could be misconstrued as a diminution of such freedoms."

"As I've said a number of times, we have no objections to the celebration of Christmas," Goldberg said. "I'm shocked that they felt, as Christians, that they had to use the power of legislation to celebrate such a wonderful holiday.

He says that people in the Jewish community recognize that the majority of the people in the province are Christian and "we want to work with them and their families toward peace and goodwill, which I believe is the true spirit of Christmas."

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