Fire chief bans religious service to mark Remembrance day in case it offends non-Christians
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 4:59 PM on 11th November 2010
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A fire chief has been slammed after he scrapped his brigade's annual religious service to mark Remembrance Day in case it offended non-Christians.
Staff at the Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service used to hear prayers said by a local chaplain before and after the traditional two minute silence at 11am.
But new chief fire officer Nigel Williams decided to axe the religious element of the service held at brigade headquarters at Hethersett near Norwich.
Inclusive? A fire chief banned a religious service to mark Remembrance Day to avoid offending non-Christians
Inclusive? A fire chief banned a religious service to mark Remembrance Day to avoid offending non-Christians
The decision was made after he was told that several staff were 'uncomfortable' with the religious nature of the ceremony.
Around 40 staff still gathered in the mess room yesterday (thurs) to stand in silence and lay poppy wreaths - but there were no Christian prayers said.
Instead a senior fire officer simply read war poet Laurence Binyon's famous poem For the Fallen before the silence.
Neil Harvey, a committee member of Norfolk Retained Firefighters' Union, said: 'I'm astounded. The people we're remembering here don't want to be anonymous and don't want their faith to be anonymous.
'That seems to be the way the world is going - making everything vanilla in order to avoid offending anybody.
'It would be interesting to find out how many people complained and what thos complaints were.
'Is it money well spent for people to sit there and dream up things like this instead of spending it on frontline firefighters and new kit?'
In memoriam: A wreath laid in Wootton Bassett commemorates the fallen on Remembrance Day
In memoriam: A wreath laid in Wootton Bassett commemorates the fallen on Remembrance Day
Jenny Simpson of the Norwich Royal British Legion said: 'I do not see why they cannot have a religious service.
'It is traditional to hold a religious service at the same time as the two minutes silence.
Mr Williams who took up his post in August after being Dorset's deputy fire chief said that scrapping the Christian element reflected his 'diverse' workforce.
He said: 'Following last year's Remembrance there were a number of different views voiced by staff on the nature of our headquarters' service.
'With this in mind we decided that this year our commemoration would not be linked to any specific faith or belief but would still offer people the chance to remember together.
'I hope and believe this made our Remembrance as inclusive as possible. I thought very carefully about this because we wanted to make sure that people did have a space to make an act of remembrance.'
A Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service spokesman was unable to confirm how many staff had complained.
GERMAN SUPERMARKET CHAIN POSTPONES ARMISTICE DAY OPENING
British soldiers have claimed another victory over their wartime foe by forcing a business to abandon plans to open a new store on Armistice day - because it's German.
The public outcry forced German-owned supermarket chain Lidl to back down over its planned opening of a new store on Remembrance Day.
Lidl had scheduled to open the supermarket in Bodmin, Cornwall on November 11 but has now moved the date back by 24 hours.
County manager for the Royal British Legion, Keith Naylor, said there was unease among members of the Bodmin branch over the opening date.
'Bodmin was a garrison town and has a long military history, and it would be fair to say members of the local branch were not happy with the supermarket opening on a say when there would be a two minute silence,' he said.
The company said that after discussions with local groups in the town, it had now decided to open the new store on November 12.
Bodmin mayor Maggie Denholm said she was pleased Lidl had changed the date of the grand opening.
'As soon as Lidl realised its error, it backed down gracefully. It did not want to insult the British servicemen and women from Bodmin who fought and died for their country.'
Chamber of commerce chairman, Chris Wilkes, said the supermarket company was quick to change the date after being approached.
'They genuinely didn't realise the implications of opening in Bodmin on November 11,' he said.
'Lidl said they had received a lot of help from the town in creating the new store and they didn't want to insult anyone, and as soon as it was pointed out to them, they had no hesitation in moving the opening forward by a day,' said Mr Wilkes.
A Lidl spokesman confirmed: 'The store was originally planned for opening on November 11, but considering the clash with Remembrance Day, and on the basis of discussions with local groups, we have decided to open on the following day.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1328798/Fire-chief-bans-religious-service-mark-Remembrance-day-case-offends-non-Christians.html#ixzz159i5E0Qm
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