Rumours are spreading online that assert the town of Cardwell in Cairns has banned Christmas lights after complaints from local Muslims.
This rumour has spread every year since it first sprung up on social media back in December 2013. To be clear, it wasn’t true then, and it certainly isn’t now.
Typical example –
CHRISTMAS LIGHTS BANNED CAIRNS: Christmas Lights in Cardwell, North Queensland have been banned by local council after a complaint from the new Al Shalalah Mosque built in the town weeks ago. Iman Adnan Janutab said that the towns 100 Muslim residents found the lights to be an offensive celebration of Christmas and urged Christians to practise their beliefs privately within their homes, and not in public. The Council said in a statement that the request was approved because the needs of the religious minority needed to be respected. Please share THIS MESSAGE! So we can put Christmas lights
The claim that Christmas or traditions associated with the festive season are being banned due to some form of cultural migration (e.g. Muslims) is a popular type of hoax that we inevitably encounter during the latter end of the year, and this type of hearsay is often used as a propaganda tool by those who take a strong anti-immigration stance.
In fact, hoaxes asserting that many traditions commonly associated with Western culture is being censored or outright banned due to immigration or “not offending anyone”. That includes various rumours about Easter and Easter eggs, as well as wearing football shirts or selling remembrance poppies.
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This type of nonsense it guaranteed to provoke an emotional response from those who read it who may feel that their cultural values are being threatened with values from a “foreign culture”.
However the rumours – just like in this case – are false. In this case of Christmas lights being banned from Cardwell, it’s simply untrue. Cardwell has no mosque, and the local council there, Cassowary Coast Regional, have explicitly debunked the nonsense when it first spread in 2013.
Just in case you (like us!) have been caught up in this one, don’t believe the hoax statement on another facebook page about Cardwell’s Christmas lights/decorations. Council HAS NOT banned Christmas lights in Cardwell.
Please stop circulating this type of nonsense. It’s just not true.