I commend Ariane Sherine’s excellent guidance that teaching on Christmas should be presaged by the introit “Christians believe that ...” as both true and fair.
I am, however, mildly amused at Ms Sherine’s blunt instruction to “give them the facts”. I almost envy the certainty with which she can asserts her “facts” - that Christmas is just a story, there were no shepherds and that one scientist’s inability to identify a star in the East discredits any suggestion it existed.
When she goes on to apply similar fundamentalism, advising us to “totally mention” Santa she demonstrates something quite sad: namely that The God DelusionHumanist AssociationBus Campaigning atheism of today often sacrifices reason in the name of its own blinkered faith.
The fact remains, “Christians believe that ...”. If others have different beliefs, is that something to get so worked up about?
Huw Thomas, Emmaus Catholic and CofE Primary School, Sheffield.