Christmas used to be all about the birth of Jesus Christ, and nativity scenes have always depicted how his parents Joseph and Mary traveled all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem, only to find shelter in a stable, where Mary finally gave birth to Jesus.
But now, the scene has changed drastically. Aside from the usual characters many have grown to love, this touching moment has been added with the appearance of the most unusual characters: Elvis Presley and aliens.
A thread in netmums.com lamented that their children are now being cast as "aliens, recycling bins, a Sir Alan Sugar-style 'Lord Christmas', punk fairies, Elvis, footballers, a lobster, a napkin, carrots, sprouts, a pumpkin and a drunken spaceman."
The same thread revealed that about 65 percent of parents would like to hold a traditional nativity, while 22 percent considers the nativity "unimportant." The remaining 13 percent simply plans to teach the Christmas story at home.
Evangelical Alliance UK expressed sadness that the nativity scene is being "modernised" and has called on schools to switch back to traditional nativity plays.
Head of public affairs, Dr. Don Horrocks, expressed concern that the importance of Christ might soon be eased out of Christmas, the same way Easter is now all about the Easter bunny and egg hunting.
"Here we have the greatest good news story in the history of the world and we seem to be doing our best to bury it and replace it with Elvis impersonations and every other type of contemporary image which demands nothing of us. Yet the person whose birthday we celebrate is not there. The central figure has been removed and the celebration has become 'Xmas', where 'X' stands for 'anonymous'," he said.