The highly respected MP, Jo Cox, who tragically passed away on 16th June 2016, said something unforgettably beautiful in her maiden speech to parliament in 2015 - "We are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us." I always found this to be a kind of motto for our country and the way that we behave with one another. But this year, as Christmas approached I started to wonder how truly our country embodies this quote and whether, in some respects, things we do divide rather than unite.
The reason for my thinking this was as a result of the gigantic money making, hugely profit - harnessing season that we like to call Christmas time. Christmas is undoubtedly a beautiful, magical, wonderful time of year when strings of colourful light dancing on frosty wisps of air - however, although it is a time for uniting people, some would argue that too much of a fuss is made over Christmas. For example, the two week holiday (and often a week of leave that adults get) that children get from school, which proudly calls itself, 'The Christmas Holiday,' seems rather self explanatory of the large scale fuss that we as a country make over the festival.
What I began to realise was that the amount of eager anticipation that surrounded Christmas, and to a lesser extent Easter, far outweighed that of any religious festival of any other religion - and that struck me as somewhat of a disappointment. According to the United Kingdom Population Census of 2011, Christians accounted for only 48.4% of the population of London, with 22.3% of people being of a religious faith other than Christianity. And this was when I began to wonder - why is it that when Chanukah, Diwali, Holi, Yom Kippur or Eid (to name but a precious few) arrive, nobody seems to care much at all? Why is it that Ramadan calendars during Ramadan do not fill shelves in the same way that advent calendars do during Christmas, or that loaves of challah at Yom Kippur do not take up rows in supermarket aisles the same way that loaves of panettone do at Christmas? If the reason that this is not the case is because supermarket brands, large high street chains and online retailers would rather spend all the time and money they are able to on wringing the largest profit they can out of consumers during Christmas time, whilst it is admittedly a wonderfully atmospheric and magical time of year which does seem to unite people, the lack of consideration of 22.3% of followers of other faiths in London alone is rather disheartening and can feel inconsiderate at times. It does indeed serve to feel as if other religions are being marginalised which is extremely saddening, especially seeing as, for example, the first synagogue in London was built in 1701 and the first mosque and Buddhist temple were both built in 1926, all of which happened a very long time ago.
This is why even if distinguished businesses fail to address major religious festivals which are not Christian ones, by wishing a friend, 'Happy Chanukah!' or sharing a Ramadan Iftar meal with neighbours everyone can make a difference as after all, every festival is about sharing love, peace and joy with all of those around you.
