Letter: The political correctness of Christmas

Sir: If we are earnest about striving for a politically correct Christmas in the wake of Birmingham City Council's banning of the C-word for fear of offending ethnic minorities (Yasmin Alibhai-Brown; Living, 10 December), then the Jesus in our nativity plays and Christmas cards should be dark-skinned, since he was Jewish. And one of the men traditionally accepted as one of the Magi, Melchior, should certainly be black.

Contrary to the secular view that Christmas offends people of other faiths, the reverse is often true, with faith communities honouring rather than denigrating each other's festivals. You only have to visit the Caribbean islands, South Africa or Latin America to see this pluralism forcefully demonstrated in more multi-cultural settings than ours.

Of more pressing concern this Christmas is the relentless draining of the festival's religious significance. God's advent on earth and his sacrifice for our sake on a cross is becoming increasingly politically incorrect, as it was 2,000 years ago.

Yours faithfully,

RONALD NATHAN

African Caribbean

Evangelical Alliance

KEITH EWING

Evangelical Alliance UK

London, SE11

13 December