Christians are saying that they’re ‘Not Ashamed‘, apparently, and Eric Pickles has declared war on the war on Christmas. I didn’t know anything about the Not Ashamed campaign when I came out of the shower this morning and answered the phone from BBC Radio Suffolk. Due to some crossed wires, I was expected to comment on air. Had to ask what I was supposed to be commenting about. So if it makes no sense, that’s why.

This was an article in a newsletter from 2008 by Sophie Lovejoy, when her children were young. It provides ideas for parents with limited budgets who’d like to keep their spending under control, yet still have a good time. Christmas is invariably a challenge with small children, particularly if you aren’t Christian. For the past few years, my halcyon days of totally ignoring Christmas have been entirely forgotten. I got away with not celebrating when Tess was one, but as she turned two, I couldn’t hold out any longer.

A Humanist contribution to an inter-faith Celebration of Human Rights hosted by the Ipswich & District Bah­ community at Ipswich Central Library, 10 December 2010. The theme was Article 26:2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, “Spiritual Education”: Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the United Nations for the maintenance of peace.

You may have read that the Pope, Eric Pickles MP, the Daily Mail, and many others are blaming atheists, Muslims, councils and various other killjoys for “banning Christmas” in the interests of not offending anyone – “PC gone mad!” – and are calling the festive season “Winterval” instead. Calm down. It’s not true. Kevin Arscott, who writes the Angry Mob blog, explains that the story is all due to bad journalism (and there’s a lot of it about) in an essay you can download as a pdf file.

Sheikh Maulana Abu Sayeed, head of the UK Islamic Sharia Council, has won the 2010 Bad Faith Award for asserting that there’s no such thing as marital rape. Clearly there cannot be any rape within the marriage, he’s reported as saying. Maybe aggression, maybe indecent activity.

Stay safe, keep warm, and don’t forget to feed the birds. Click here for some seasonal thoughts from Terry Sanderson, NSS President. Robin woodcut by Thomas Bewick.