Church of England Warns Clergy About Christmas Carols With 'Problematic Words'

We lucked out this Christmas and didn't hear any concerns that "Baby, It's Cold Outside" is about date rape. Remember back in 2019 when John Legend rewrote the lyrics to be "woke"? (The man immediately suggests he call his date an Uber.)

Well, Christmas Carols are a lot more problematic than you think. The Church of England is concerned that certain Christmas carols imply that Jesus is the "true Messiah."

The Church of England has told clergy in Birmingham to watch out for "problematic words" in Christmas carols that imply Jesus is the "true Messiah" or other religions aren't valid. And they wonder why the pews are empty. https://t.co/klsTU9Cy0H
— Toby Young (@toadmeister) December 24, 2024

Will Jones of The Daily Sceptic points us to a piece by Celia Walden in The Telegraph:

You see, priests have been told to edit popular carols this Christmas in order to avoid (I really need to create a custom keyboard shortcut for this phrase) “causing unnecessary offence”. Quite why you would be in a church to begin with if you found Christianity so offensive has not been made clear.
…
Yet according to a whistleblower vicar, Church of England clergy across the country have been contacted and urged to alter various Advent hymns “to avoid upset”. Those singled out as particularly concerning are ‘O Come, O Come, Emmanuel’ (for depicting other faiths as being “outside of God’s grace”) and ‘Lo, He Comes With Clouds Descending’ (the clergy have been sent a link to research suggesting the second verse contains “problematic words” by stating Jesus is the “true Messiah”).
In a further email sent to the Birmingham diocese, clergy were advised to: “Try to use language that won’t add further confusion or tension or take away anything from the good news of the Nativity.” And they wonder why the pews are empty?

Anglicanism, once upon a time, had some honest to goodness merit. It produced some great lights such as John Henry Newman, C.S. Lewis, and Michael Ramsay, to name just a few. Now, however, it is down the toilet, having loaded it with crap and flushed it by its own hand.
— Bert Harrell (@BertHarrell3) December 25, 2024

The Church of England is a church that no longer believes in itself.
— George Sanders (@GeorgeM10912400) December 25, 2024

Christmas will disappear from this country at this rate 😔
— 🇬🇧Markle’s Claw🇬🇧 (@DeeDee84276236) December 24, 2024

This is difficult to believe. The exclusivity of Jesus as Messiah (and God, Himself) is central to the Christian's faith. Removing such references reveals the church is no longer the church.
— greg smith (@gsmithcog) December 25, 2024

They do not believe, so it is understandable that they expect no one else to do so.

The church needs to clean house.
— BasedBrit (@RealBasedBrit) December 24, 2024