Monday, November 20, 2006

[wren chapel] now they've put it under lock and key

The 2nd most nauseating thing to me was the smug banality of the administrator's explanation that they were trying to make the Wren Chapel "less of a faith-specific space, and to make it more welcoming to students, faculty, staff and visitors of all faiths. " What drivel, what a gross insult to the intellect of the university community.

The most nauseating is that the video reveals they didn't just put the cross in a cupboard - they locked it away. Locked it. Now I can only think of two explanations for this 1] in it's old position it was guarded and in it's new, it's at more risk of thievery 2] there is real mania at work here.

Also interesting is the way the secular blogosphere has got into this. Michelle Malkin, bless her little cotton socks, got into it and today the Tin Drummer said:

I have come across this unwillingness to allow symbols of non-atheism in public spaces many times recently, but I just can't work it out. Why do atheists need to protected from symbols of faith, even in chapels? Are they really so chippy and insecure that this is necessary? My experience of atheists suggests that most don't give a damn.

One major blogger today said he felt it was a storm in a teacup. Hardly that - the locking away would seem to have put paid to that notion. This blog believes there is truly mania at work here and a cynical, banal disrespect fuelling it. Believe me, if it was a Wiccan Chapel in a Wiccan College and the Wiccan Star had been removed and locked away, I'd be equally up in arms about it. Perhaps the final word should come from Mr. Eugenides, in his comment at Gates of Vienna:

It's a disgrace.

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