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   HebrideanHecate (hebrideanhecate@spinster.xyz)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Apr-2025 01:14:21 JST HebrideanHecate

   https://thecritic.co.uk/why-easter-should-matter-to-us-all/

   Last month, an especially egregious example of religious exclusionism went viral, in the form of a leaked letter from a primary school headmistress cancelling Easter celebrations. The letter, penned by one Stephanie Mander of Norwood Primary in Eastleigh, Hampshire, explained that “After careful consideration […] we have decided not to hold the Easter bonnet parade or the Easter service this year. This decision has been made in the spirit of inclusivity and respect for the diverse religious beliefs, represented within our school community.”

   I would urge reading the letter in full because it is hard to exaggerate how beyond parody the content is. All else aside, the sheer meanness of it was jaw-dropping. (Is there a sentence in the English language more joyless than “we have cancelled the Easter bonnet parade”? You may as well declare the Easter bunny dead and warn that any child caught eating a chocolate egg will be expelled on sight while you’re at it). Yet while few schools, if any, have been quite as explicit in dismissal of Easter as Norwood, the media furore has followed the same patterns as all the others: an outpouring of concern over the war on Christians in Britain and British culture more generally, right-wing politicians weighing in (Suella Braverman called Norwood’s decision indicative of “cultural surrender” and Reform MP Rupert Lowe lamented “the poison that is being pushed on children in schools”) but within mere days it blew over, confined to the so-called culture war archives of memory.

   An overlooked irony within the Norwood Primary school letter is that in the final paragraph of the letter, parents are informed of the school’s upcoming celebration of Refugee Week and the schools commitment to becoming an “accredited school of sanctuary”. Putting aside the fact that said Refugee Week is funded by an ideological quango (and the problems with this could be a separate article in itself)

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     KeepTakingTheSoma (keeptakingthesoma@spinster.xyz)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Apr-2025 01:14:56 JST KeepTakingTheSoma

     in reply to
     @HebrideanHecate The only way to end this nonsense is for parents to just remove their children. No kids, no cash for her salary.
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     HebrideanHecate (hebrideanhecate@spinster.xyz)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Apr-2025 01:17:16 JST HebrideanHecate

     in reply to

     • KeepTakingTheSoma

     @KeepTakingTheSoma Damn right.

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     EatKnitSleep (eatknitsleepagain@spinster.xyz)'s status on Wednesday, 16-Apr-2025 01:23:22 JST EatKnitSleep

     in reply to

     • KeepTakingTheSoma
     @KeepTakingTheSoma @HebrideanHecate At the same time as making schools increasingly awful, the government is also working on making home education much more difficult, and in some areas, you can't just move your kids to another school because there aren't any other schools with places. (Friend's kid missed a whole year of education a few years ago, as the LA couldn't find a school with a free place anywhere in the county). The end result is that they can indoctrinate pupils all they want, as their parents have no other viable options.
     KeepTakingTheSoma likes this.