Jan 11 2009

vicar removes “horrifying” crucifix

( – promoted by buhdydharma )

Apparently the fairly graphic representation of the agonies of The Cross

were “upsetting the children” and was,  in theirwords, a “put-off.” Now, I’ll admit I’ve been away from Mother Church for awhile, but as a good Irish Catholic  boy,

I seem  to recall being told over and over again that the unimaginable agonies of  Jesus on The Cross were the point of Christianity; his agonies and suffering were what redeemed humanity. Silly little  bake-sale Christians; when they say things like “we need a more uplifting and inspiring symbol than execution on a cross,” we realize that they’ve lost any reverence for — hell, any understanding of — the broken,  tortured body that for 2000 years was the central truth of their faith.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…

A statue of the crucifixion has been taken down from its perch on a church in Sussex because it was scaring local children and deterring worshippers, a vicar admitted today.

…snip…

Souter, formerly a cell biologist, said: “The crucifix expressed  suffering, torment, pain and anguish. It was a scary image, particularly for children. Parents didn’t want to walk past it with their kids, because they found it so horrifying.

“It wasn’t a suitable image for the outside of a church wanting to welcome worshippers. In fact, it was a real put-off.

“We’re all about hope, encouragement and the joy of the Christian faith. We want to communicate good news, not bad news, so we need a more uplifting and inspiring symbol than execution on a cross.”

13 comments

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    • Edger on January 11, 2009 at 13:41
    • #

    Religion has actually convinced people there’s an invisible man living in the sky who watches everything you do, every minute of every day. And the invisible man has a special list of ten things he does not want you to do. And if you do any of these ten things, he has a special place, full of fire and smoke and burning and torture and anguish, where he will send you to live and suffer and burn and choke and scream and cry forever and ever ’til the end of time!

    But He loves you. He loves you, and He needs money!

    –George Carlin

    • Robyn on January 11, 2009 at 15:28
    • #

    …by the statue of a gay man being stoned to death.

  4. in the NYT titled Who Would Jesus Smack Down?.

    Seems that this guy is making a killing preaching the “horrific.” Who knew that would work?

  5. There’s a picture at http://rmadisonj.blogspot.com/… with an article by Loudon Wainright.

    More from Loudon on religion:

  6. …is an old idea.  

    But I wasn’t sorry to hear it will be donated to a museum.  They can put all the gory crucifixes in museums.  Sooner the better 🙂

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