BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(

Subject: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 04:07 AM

The humble hot cross bun has become victim of the polically correct brigade. See here for details.

I also heard, on the radio this morning, a council spokesman saying they were trying to take the religion out of Easter...

The world has not only gone mad but it is well on the way to being locked up for it's own good!

How on earth can this help race and religious understanding? How many people will now see this as yet another reason to be anti Semitic/Moslem/Hindu or whatever? Can these stupid people not see the harm they are causing? I realy do despair at times and wonder if we only get what we deserve:-(

Cheers

Dave the Gnome

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: mooman
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 04:14 AM

Well...I for one am looking forward to eating my hot cross buns and, as an Irishman, celebrated St Patrick's yesterday!

I agree DtG and would not only question the stupid bureaucrats who do this but the intolerant members (by no means the majority) of all faiths who cannot respect the traditions other beliefs.

moo (Buddhist)

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Rt Revd Sir jOhn from Hull
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 04:28 AM

its a big load of shit if you ask me, how can eating hot x buns ofend people?

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Troll
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 04:37 AM

A school district in California (I think) removed "The Three Little Pigs" from the county schools libraries because they were afraid Moslems would be offended since the pig is considered an unclean animal in Islam.
A local Moslem cleric said that it was totally silly as the Holy Koran mentions pigs several times. How else, he said, would Moslems know that the pig was unclean if the Holy Koran did not tell them so?
The pig is also unclean in the Jewish faith but that didn't seem to concern the school board. It just goes to show how truly silly political correctness is.

troll

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Nemesis
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 04:38 AM

What confidence can it inspire in peoples of other faiths that we will respect theirs, if we can't even respect our own!

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: MMario
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:14 AM

I find this passage to be especially telling:

The Muslim Council of Britain called the decision "very,very bizarre". A spokesman said: "This is absolutely amazing. At the moment, British Muslims are very concerned about the upcoming war with Iraq and are hardly going to be taken aback by a hot cross bun.

"Unfortunately actions like this can only create a backlash and it is not very thoughtful. I wish they would leave us alone. We are quite capable of articulating our own concerns and if we find something offensive, we will say so. We do not need to rely on other people to do it for us.

"British Muslims have been quite happily eating and digesting hot cross buns for many years and I don't think they are suddenly going to be offended."

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: greg stephens
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:29 AM

There is no-one in the world so tyrannical is a full-on do-good liberal put in a position of moderate power. I am quite relaxed about this kind of left-winger being in serious power, prime minister or whatever, but it is in the lower echelons that the trouble always arises. Putting people in charge of school menus, social worker policy, library purchasing: these are the sorts of areas that turn the mildly barmy into the completely dangerous bullies.
   That the world is full of eccentric idiots is not surprising. The fact that we voluntarily choose ways of running society that give power to these people is truly frightening. The backlash that this lunacy generates is all around us and is very unnerving..in my own town the BNP is assiduously gathering supporters, and the ban-the-hot-cross-bun brigade are acting as their recruiting sergeants.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: JennyO
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:29 AM

That was the bit that I noticed too. In trying to be oh-so-politically correct, they have come across as being patronising to the very people they say they are concerned about - as well as the whole thing being just plain bloody stupid.

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Amos
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:30 AM

The issue is not eating hot cross buns. Maybe we shoul say Hot X Buns? It is that the publically funded schools had institutionalized serving them on Easter, which is a nod to a piece of mythological symbolism peculiar to Christians. They are quite right to discontinue the practice. They should serve Hot X Buns on alternate Wednesdays instead.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: JennyO
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:36 AM

BTW, my post was in reference to MMario's quote.

Actually I love hotX buns. If they have any significance at all to me, it would be the pagan symbolism of the four directions, but really, I just like 'em 'cos they're YUMMY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, lets have them all the time!

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: greg stephens
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:48 AM

Never mind hot cross buns, there's a bloody great church on top of the hill a few yards from where I live. Provocative, or what? Though I have to say that of the many many Muslims that visit my house, not one has ever demanded that it be demolished. Surprising, eh?

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Bullfrog Jones
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:49 AM

Bake your own, Jenny -- I've got a recipe somewhere I'll dig out.
I think some enterprising baker should start making Hot Crescent Buns... and Hot Star-of-David Buns... and Hot Light Sabre Buns (for those of the Jedi faith)...

BJ

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Jerry Rasmussen
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:54 AM

If it was a hot X bun, wouldn't it be pornographic? :-)

Jerry

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Rapparee
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:56 AM

Someone somewhere got a teensy bit of power from someplace and feels obligated to somehow use it. Minor bureaucrats are the very worst.

And what the heck is "naan bread?" Does it derive from "Canaan?" If so, it's religiously affiliated, probably with Moloch.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: mooman
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 08:58 AM

....and don't forget the eight-spoked wheel buns for us!

moo

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: mooman
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:02 AM

I like Bullfrog's idea of an "interdenominational bun shop" (I have been feeling a bit p'ed with my job lately....!)

moo

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: MMario
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:10 AM

Interdenominational Bun Shop

sounds like a good name for a band -

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:12 AM

I do wish there were fewer little facists in the world..poor Amos..such a self righteous dolt.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: mooman
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:13 AM

MMario,

When we eventually all do get together for a "global gathering" perhaps we should call the scratch band that...!

moo

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: MMario
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:14 AM

Amos - most religious holidays *have* religious customs affiliated with them. Otherwise they wouldn't be religious holidays now, would they?

My head hurts

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: JennyO
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:16 AM

Bullfrog Jones, if you can dig up that recipe, I might try making some in different shapes.

This thread is making me hungry (:-D

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Bullfrog Jones
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:18 AM

I'm not at home to check my own recipe so I did a quick search and this came out top of the list (Cuisine Du Monde)
(Makes 15)
1¼ cups of warm water
½ cup of soft brown sugar
4 teaspoons of dry active yeast
4 cups of flour
2 tablespoons of milk powder
2 teaspoons of mixed spice
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
A pinch of ground cloves
½ cup of dried currants
½ cup of raisins
¼ cup of mixed peel
50 grams / 2 oz of butter
5 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoon of water
1 egg
Preheat the oven to 200°C, 390°F or gas mark 5½. Add the warm water to a medium sized bowl and stir in the brown sugar until dissolved. Sprinkle the yeast granules over the top and put aside. Melt the butter and set aside. In a large bowl or electric mixer sift the flour, milk powder and spices and then add the dried fruits. When the yeast mix is frothy add to the flour and fruit and pour in the melted butter. Mix to combine and knead by hand until smooth or for about 8 minutes using a mixer with dough hook. Cover and set aside to double in size or microwave for 10 to 15 seconds on high (this is a shortcut method to activate the dough). Cut and shape 15 buns and place in a warm greased baking tin. Lightly beat the egg and thinly coat the tops of the buns with the egg wash using a pastry brush. Place the buns in a warm place to continue rising for around 40 minutes. Mix 5 tablespoons of flour with around one tablespoon of water to make a firm dough. Roll into thin strips and place across the buns to form the crosses. Brush the strips with a little more egg wash. Bake for 20 minutes.

BJ

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: greg stephens
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:25 AM

While reading Mudcat, I invariably expect wise advice from Amos. I keep re-reading his post in the hope of spotting some satirical/ironic content. But I have failed, I think it's serious. Words fail me.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: MMario
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:25 AM

the ones my church used to serve were really just sweet rolls (with raisens) and a cross of icing on top.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: JennyO
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:30 AM

That recipe sounds great! Now as soon as I can get myself down to the shop for ingredients.....

How about a pentagram-shaped one?

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Amos
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 09:57 AM

Sorry to let y'all down, guys. What's wrong with hot cross buns on alternate Wednesdays? Easter is meaningless to non-Christians, obviously. It would be as though the schools made a point of serving -- I dunno -- Burmese latkis or something -- once a year to celebrate the anniversary of Buddha's enlightment. Nothing wrong with Burmese latkis. Whay make a religous issue out of it?

The whole thing really is a storm in a teacup, though, with the gears of war revving up in the desert. Wodda mess. Think I'll have a hot X bun. :>)


A

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: MMario
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 10:00 AM

Nothing wrong with hot cross buns on alternate wednesdays - *NOR* should there be a problem with them serving them on a traditional date.

The problem is in the forbidding of them.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Kim C
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 10:07 AM

Hey, I went to public school in the 70s and 80s and we ALWAYS had fish on Friday. Did it ever occur to me that because I wasn't Catholic, I should fuss about it? Nope. I like fish anyhow.

Some of you may be aware that Nashville, TN, is the home of the Mother Theresa Cinnamon Bun. A few years ago, a local coffeehouse produced a cinnamon bun whose swirls resembled the face of Mother Theresa. I believe it made the national, and maybe even international news.

I really do believe that reasonable people can make up their own minds about what they find offensive, and what is worth haggling over. I don't think buns are worth haggling over. There are bigger fish to fry in this life.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Bullfrog Jones
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 10:12 AM

Jenny -- Pentagrams? witch religion is that? geddit? which...

I'll get me coat.

BJ

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: JennyO
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 10:21 AM

Heh heh heh heh heh heh.....(wicked cackle)

I'll get me broomstick.

Jenny

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: greg stephens
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 10:56 AM

It is of course in one way a trivial and laughable issue. Eating or not eating hot cross buns may seem of no interest while we wait for war. But I actually feel that, while this is a bit of a joke, it is also deadly serious. If certain kinds of people wheedle their way into positions of minor power, and then use these powers to decide when people are allowed to eat buns, we have every reason to feel worried. If we don't stop them now, what is next? Brussel Sprouts at Christmas?

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: mooman
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 11:07 AM

You must mean European Harmonized Sprouts surely Greg!!!

(;>)

moo

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: DougR
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 11:42 AM

Kim, sometimes you crack me up! Such good common sense coming from the word processer of such a young lady in Tennessee.

DougR

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: greg stephens
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 11:49 AM

In the "Pedantic crack" thread there is some interesting etymological discussion of the use of the word "bun" to refer to a portion of the human anatomy.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Kim C
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 11:57 AM

Well, Doug, what do you reckon would happen if we started serving the fish and the buns together? ;-) Pandelirium!!!

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: MMario
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:04 PM

Amazing the things you find out when you start doing research...here I grew up eating hot cross buns - which were explained as 1) having the cross to remind us of Christ - and b) rich and sweet - ending the (historical) privitations of Lent

and now doing a bit of googling I find out that they are actually part of a religious ceremony celebrating the mystical marriage of Astarte and Tammuz - stolen by the Christian priests and perverted to their own ends.

This even though most agree the tradition is derived from the British Isles - and there haven't been many worshipers of Astarte OR Tammuz there...

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Kim C
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:10 PM

The NunBun

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Ebbie
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:22 PM

Amos, I read your post entirely differently- since it is not possible to serve Hot Cross Buns in the public school system on Easter (Hey! It's on Sunday, not to mention that a great many schools take their spring break at that time. Not all though, I grant.), I thought your post was TIC.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Mark Clark
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:24 PM

I was taught the nursery rhyme “Hot Crossed Buns” about as early as I began to understand speech and have eaten them on occasion all of my life but, until now, never considered the possibility that the icing cross had any Christian significance. Who knew? I thought it was just a meaningless icing pattern. And I was raised in a church-going family.

Still, it's hard to feel any outrage about Easter, a holiday that's never incorporated much Christian meaning anyway. The Christian Feast of the Resurrection is properly called Pascha, a Greek word meaning Passover. This is because the Feast of the Resurrection is, for Christians, the new Passover and is intended to provide a Christian enhancement to the more ancient Jewish Passover feast wherein the faithful are saved from death by The Blood of the Lamb.

Easter—named for Eostre, a pagan godess of spring—is a celebration of the vernal equinox filled with fertility symbols like eggs, rabbits and newly born creatures. In Western cultures, the traditional meanings have become combined and confused but this hasn't always been the case.

Abandoning hot crossed buns seems kind of stupid on the face of it but then if they're only traditionally passed out at Easter and if the “cross” is thought to be a Christian one, that kind of reinforces the decision. Maybe if they also served cresent rolls and Mogen David wine everything would be okay.

      - Mark

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:39 PM

Alternate Wenesdays...........Spare us this idiocy pleeeeaassse.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Amos
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 12:49 PM

Well, it WAS tongue in cheek. The cafeteria manager is within her rights to decide which buns to serve when. Those who want to subscribe to mystic voodoo symbols as a sort of sympathetic magic routine, or cultural pain-killer, of course are free to do so, but sometimes a bun is just a bin, nothing more.

Burmese latkis, on the other hand, are properly made with the crushed leaves of the bodhi tree, preferably the original tree itself, and thus are not just innocent elective symbols -- they might have some SMF (spiritually modified food) in them which could conceivably bring about the wrong kind of enlightenment in innocent children!!

As concerned parents it is out duty to raise a ruction about this risk, holler and moan in letters to editors and possibly picket the schools themselves for slipping these SMFs into our children. What if they picked up some nasty foreign philosophy from eating them?




A

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Kim C
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 01:12 PM

Ruction?

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Bill D
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 02:04 PM

20 minutes ago I read this thread in amazement, and mentioned it to my wife. Then I let her have the PC (no pun intended..yet..) to do some work related to out folk society. 10 minutes ago, she informed me that the society had recieved a serious complaint that the recent Gordon Bok concert had been held in a church, and that soomeone was offended and made uncomfortable because there was a cross visable behind the performer!

Since it is VERY difficult to find affordable venues that do NOT involve churches, I am not sure what they would have us do?

Perhaps it would be even more interesting if the churches should institute a policy that required every concert attendee to swear at the door that they were 'believers'.

I am totally appalled this sort of thin-skinned nonsense. I am a non-religious person, but I am sure that I can sit quietly in ANY church without anything rubbing off on me that I don't wish, just as I can shake hands with someone of another race without being 'contaminated'.

I am sure that this complaintant will be politely told that it must be left up to him to decide where he can tolerate listening to music, but the mindset scares me.

Unfortunately, there are narrowminded zealots on BOTH ends of the religion/non-religion spectrum.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: greg stephens
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 02:12 PM

Bill D...a lot of gigs in here in England happen in Catholic Social Clubs, which tend to involve performing in front of a massive cross on the wall ( at the other end from the bar). And being a Catholic Club, the cross often has a largely brightly painted man hanging on it. This provides a rich subject for stand-up comedians(Catholic and non-Catholic) performimg at the clubs. An often used line is"I hear the last manager here was caught with his hand in the till.Look what they did to him!"

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Kim C
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 02:14 PM

I think it's great that some churches open their doors for community functions.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Kenny B (inactive)
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 02:17 PM

On the PC issue
Has anyone suggested renaming Mornington Crescent yet?

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Amos
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 02:41 PM

Not to mention Charing X!! You guys must get straightened out! And while we're at it, let's rename that blues about going down to the X-roads. ANd let's nothear about anyone getting their wires confused, either!! It's too suggestive!!

Oy, vey -- such whingers!! Ain't they got noffink better to do?



A

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Bill D
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 03:08 PM

nope, Amos...neither the sanctimonious nor their opposite number, whatever the word is for them, have anything better to do....laissez faire seems to have dropped out of style. "Peaceful co-existence" is not an option, for some.....

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: GUEST,Q
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 03:54 PM

All for banning Hot Cross buns- the usual ones in the stores are horrible- until I saw Bullfrog Jones' recipe. Sounds good! Don't like the bitter so will leave out the peel. Might substitute some cut up dried apricots.

Subject: RE: BS: Another victim of the PC brigade:-(
From: Dave the Gnome
Date: 18 Mar 03 - 04:16 PM

Sorry if this appears twice - my last posting seems to have fallen in a cyber mud-hole:-)

How about having the new interdenominational bun made at a musical venue - The house of the rising bun!

I did go on to say I will keep taking the tablets but I guess I shouldn't due to the connotation with Moses bringing the tablets from the mountain causing offence to the save the mountain campaign;-)

Cheers

DtG