EU (internal) guidelines: "Stop references to Christmas, Europeans are not all Christians"
A confidential document was released: "Do not use indications on religion, ethnicity, gender". The storm breaks out, in the evening the clarification: "We are neutral"
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Stop the religious connotations of the holidays, then stop the generic "Christmas" assuming that they are all Christians. Get rid of any gender references and never assume a person's sexual orientation.
This is what the EU guidelines establish in an internal document for the communication of EU institutions: "Every person in the EU has the right to be treated equally", reads the thirty-page text entitled "Union of Equality ”, without references to“ gender, ethnicity, race, religion, disability and sexual orientation ”.
From this point of view it is better "not to use proper names typical of a specific religion", trying to "avoid assuming that everyone is a Christian". There are also examples: instead of "Christmas is stressful" the European executive invites you to use the expression "Holidays are stressful." And again: the phrase "Maria and John are an international couple" should be replaced with "Malika and Giulio they are an international couple ".
Not only that, "Miss or Mrs" (ladies and ladies) must also disappear, replaced by a more generic "Ms". As we read in the Decalogue: "Do not use nouns or pronouns that are related to the gender of the subject; maintain a balance between genders in the organization of each panel; if you use audiovisual content or testimonials, make sure diversity is represented in all its aspects ; do not address the audience with the words' ladies' or 'gentleman' but use a generic 'dear colleagues'; when talking about transsexuals, identify them according to their indication; do not use the word' the elderly 'but' older people (the most adult population, ed); talking about people with disabilities with priority reference to the person ".
THE POLEMIC - Indications that have unleashed a real storm, triggered above all by conservative forces: "In a document of the EU Commission" employees are invited "not to refer explicitly to the Christmas period and not to use only Christian names such as 'Maria or Giovanni' because considered harmful to the various religious sensitivities ", write the MEPs of FI led by Antonio Tajani:" Does the Commission intend to modify these guidelines, respecting the Christian roots of the European Union? ".
"Our history and our identity are not erased", tweets the leader of Fdi, Giorgia Meloni.
"In the era of susceptibility, even calling things by your own name or wishing a Merry Christmas has become a discriminatory attitude to be pursued in the name of the politically correct that so much appeals to the left and to the majority that governs badly in the EU - the comment of the president of the Id group at the European Parliament Marco Zanni and the head of the League delegation in Strasbourg Marco Campomenosi - They claim to change what they don't like starting from language, imposing the newspeak of single thought: a wrong and dangerous drift, which increasingly leads to extremism of cancel culture and in the demolition of symbols of history, with all due respect to tolerance, dialogue and respect ".
CLARIFICATION - In the evening, sources from the EU commission reached Ansa: "We do not prohibit or discourage the use of the word Christmas, of course. Celebrating Christmas and using Christian names and symbols are part of the rich European heritage. Commission, we are neutral on religious issues, we have constant dialogue with all religious and non-confessional organizations ". It is "an internal document prepared at a technical level with the aim of raising awareness of inclusive communication".
About 44% of Europeans, the sources recall, are of the Catholic faith, about 10% of the Orthodox and Protestant faiths respectively. 26% say they do not belong to any religion, 2% are Muslim, 0.6% Buddhist and about one million belong to the Jewish faith. "The different religions, atheists and agnostics are part of an integrated EU. Like other organizations we prepare internal guidelines in different areas" and "it is important to give space to the diversity and richness of European culture. This is the goal. general ", explain again by the Commission. "Of course - they admit - we can always discuss the examples given. They could perhaps have been better".
(Unioneonline / D)