These letters didn't get in.....

 These letters didn't get into 'The Calgary Herald'.  In my opinion, they should have.....

Dear Editor,

 When checking out last December with my purchases, my mouth fell open when the cashier wearing a Hijab wished me a lovely, warm “Merry Christmas”.  To be greeted in this way by a non-Christian was heart-warming and yet shocking in this day of the secularization of this feast.

 Seeing my surprise, she explained that with my purchases this close to Christmas, she presumed I was Christian and therefore celebrated Christmas.  She added that she simply wanted to wish me Merry Christmas in honour of December 25^th.  That is a true story and if it doesn’t show mutual respect and honour for all in our multi-religious community, I don’t know what does.         

 Nancy Marley-Clarke

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 Dear Editor,

 I agree with the letter writer who lamented the absence of any mention of Advent in current media coverage of the upcoming festive and Holy Season.  The use of the word “Xmas” has also always puzzled me because it erases the word “Christ”, for whom the season was originally celebrated.  Why is that?  Cancel culture at work again?  December 25^th is actually Christmas Day.  It is not “Holiday” day or “Season” day, but happily the infectious joy Christmas exudes has spread and been embraced by all religions and creeds.

A few years ago, a friend gave me a lapel button which says, “Jesus is the reason for the season”.  I wear it to remind me that December 25^th celebrates the birth of the central figure in Christianity.  I am also grateful this date has spread to all corners of Western society, but I would welcome some acknowledgement that “Merry Christmas” need not be offensive, even if you aren’t a believer.

 Nancy Marley-Clarke

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 Dear Editor,

 Calgary’s new mayor Gondek came to office with a PhD in Urban Sociology -- an accreditation that would seemingly equip her well to come up with a solution to homelessness.  Yet she claims she doesn’t know what the answer to this chronic problem is and is looking to the provincial and federal governments to “get this right”.  Really? 

 Please don’t begin your tenure by playing the same tired, old game of shifting blame to other levels of government.  I would posit finding a solution to homelessness in the city you lead is your job, Madame Mayor.

 Nancy Marley-Clarke

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Just sent this into 'The Cochrane Eagle'.  Whaddya bet it definitely WON'T get in?.....

Dear Editor,

 It is wonderful every Christmas when Tom Jackson performs his Huron Carol.  In this article, Stoney Nakoda elder Tina Fox states that thousands of Indigenous children died while attending residential schools.  While this is true, we must be careful to put this number into the overall Canadian context.  According to the Truth and Reconciliation Report, approximately 150,000 children attended residential schools from 1883 to 1996 and during that time, 4,100 died, or 2.73 percent.  In doing some research, I learned that the mortality rate for all children in Canada for the same time period was a whopping 25 percent.

 Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children died principally from pre-vaccine diseases such as tuberculosis, influenza, yellow fever, pneumonia and gastrointestinal infections.  None of these diseases discriminated based on culture, race or background.  Further research indicates that many Indigenous families brought or sent their children to residential schools in the hope they would get better care than could be given in the isolated areas in which they lived.  As to why many were buried on school property, this wasn’t an attempt to hide the truth, but because many families could not afford to bring their remains home.

 So, as we mourn Indigenous children being honoured by the Rotary Club’s efforts and the Huron Carol, let’s not forget the many more non-Indigenous who died during the same perilous time. 

 Nancy Marley-Clarke