Traditional British institutions — from Christmas lights to Salvation Army Collection tins — are all under attack as the foreign colonisation process of this country proceeds apace.* The Salvation Army has been told that, after 130 years of fundraising, they are not allowed to rattle their collection tins because it might “offend other religions.”
Members have been forbidden to shake their charity tins — even if it’s done in time to the music — in case it harasses or intimidates people. One said she had been told it might also offend other religions. Guidelines for branches organising public collections say tinholders should simply keep the tin still.
Councils and police can enforce the no-rattle rule and have powers to prosecute or ban offenders. The restriction was branded ‘bonkers’ yesterday both by donors and long-serving Salvation Army volunteers.
One collector told the Daily Mail: “I’ve been doing this for more than 40 years and I fail to see how rattling a tin could cause offence. If I was shaking a tambourine I could do it all day – if I shake my tin, I could end up in court.”
The ‘Silent Night’ rattle ban manifested itself at the weekend in Uxbridge, West London, when musicians from two local branches performed outside a shopping mall.
Tony Keywood, shopping with his wife Sheila, was among a crowd enjoying the carols and stepped forward to make a donation. “I jokingly told them off for not shaking their tins,” said Mr Keywood, 78, a retired telecoms executive. “They said they weren’t allowed to do that in case it caused offence to other religions. They said they’d been told rattling a tin was considered to be intimidating.
“I don’t know who makes up these rules but I suspect it will have something to do with human rights. I do feel Britain has lost its way on things like this.”
* A prison’s new chapel will not contain a crucifix to avoid offending Muslim inmates. Bosses at HMP Lewes have been told the traditional Christian symbol, featuring Jesus nailed to a cross, must not be used in the Grade-II listed Victorian jail’s ‘multi-faith space’.
The room — part of a £1million new block — has been split in two, with one half featuring heated foot baths so Muslim worshippers can wash their feet before prayer.
But the other side, dedicated to Christian prayer, contains just a simple wooden cross and portable altar — both of which can be removed if necessary. According to the Independent Monitoring Board (IMB), the traditional Christian crucifix was erased from the chapel’s blueprints after discussion with a Muslim imam.
A source at Lewes Prison, which houses 668 convicts, said he was not surprised by the decision to ‘drop Jesus’ from show.
He added: “This is typical. On one side of the room there are heated foot baths for the Muslim inmates, but on the other side there is this silly little movable altar that can be hidden away at a moment’s notice.
“And there is just a wooden cross, not a crucifix showing the suffering Jesus went through, because those in power thought it might offend the Muslims.”
* A mother in South Shields, Tyneside, has been told to remove her Christmas lights — in case they offended non-Christian neighbours. Dorothy Glenn decorates her home with illuminations every year, including a giant tree and a 4ft Santa.
But this year she was stunned when a housing association worker called at her house and told her that the decorations she was displaying might be offending her neighbours.
The mother of three said: “I put the lights up in the first week of November and then recently a uniformed housing worker was outside and it looked like he was counting my decorations.
“When I went outside he said that the lights were ‘offensive to the community’.”
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