Away with the Manger

Manger: A long open box or trough in a stable, barn, etc., out of which horses and cattle can eat fodder (esp. fodder which cannot be placed, like hay and straw, in a rack above). Sometimes used as the symbol of the birth of Jesus.

Thanks to the OED for that.

This feels a bit like intruding on an annual family argument - but it´s the season for such arguments.

The Bishop Of Croydon reckons that Christmas carols are nonsense - saying adults should be embarrassed to sing them.

Whereas the Bishop of Ludlow, Mr Alistair Magowan, claimed that many people are trying to keep the “tinsel and frills” but “throw out the baby”.

I´d turn Magowan´s views the other way round. The Nativity is just the “tinsel and frills” According to one history, Francis of Assisi introduced a living crib scene at his Christmas Mass in Grecchio sometime in the 12th or 3th century. A few years ago, Mr Kiplings ran an ad that involved a "nativity" including a woman depicted in the pain of childbirth. More than 800 people objected.

The credophiles can´t have it both ways. Do they want to have a real message (isn´t the birth of Christ meant to be about god experiencing this vale of tears - ) or just go for comforting myths that make us feel warm inside but are ultimately meaningless (so manger fine just leave out the human bit of what his mother went through to get there)?

At the end of the day, it´s all a storm in a feedbox - except that christianity (and the other religions of the book) want to be safe from the similar sort of criticism that many of their adherents are very quick to throw at others.