The Church of England: archetypal wimp.

Anglicans give Christmas a multicultural makeover.
The Church of England has backed plans to turn Christmas into a more multicultural event.

It may have become traditional for angels, three wise men and the baby Jesus to play a starring role in the festive season.

But now Hindu snowmen, a Chinese dragon and a Jewish temple are also to be included in an attempt to make the celebrations more inclusive of Britain’s diverse communities.

Westminster Abbey will unveil life-size snowmen that Anglican clergy hope will help to improve relations and dialogue between other faiths.

Dressed in turbans, with bindi dots on their foreheads, they are intended to demonstrate that Christmas should not be exclusively for Christians.

The Rev Jane Hedges, a canon at the abbey, said that it was important to encourage people from other faiths to join in the celebrations.

“We’ve done this as it creates a good opportunity for Christians to meet and hear about the stories of people of other faiths,” she said.

“Christmas is an opportunity for everyone to stop and think and is a great opportunity for the different faiths to talk to one another.

“Wherever you’re coming from there should be something to celebrate at Christmas.”

She pointed out that for Muslims they can appreciate the story of Christ’s birth because it is included in the Koran, adding that the Hindu snowmen were not an attempt to dumb down.

“Strictly speaking, the message of Christmas is about the birth of Christ, but it has a much broader message of peace and goodwill.”

It finally took the Anglican church to see that God became incarnate, died on the cross and was resurrected, not to redeem sinners, but to provide a means for his followers to discover the virtues of other faiths and be “more inclusive of diverse communities”. This is so obvious, I can’t think how we’ve missed it for the last 2 millennia. Next year I fully expect the Anglican church to drop Christmas in favour of a Winter Celebration – in the name of inclusion.