Mamamontezz's Mental Rumpus Room

More appeasement?

It seems St. James the Moor Slayer has been relegated to the relative obscurity of a dusty old museum. He has been taken from his place within a church bearing his name because his presence might upset the "sensitivities of other ethnic groups".

The statue is being replaced by one of St. James the Pilgrim, one of the other titles by which this saint is known. Apparently a saint who's apparition spurred on the Spanish troops and assisted in the overthrow of the Moors after an 800 year occupation is not as PC as the counter-image of the same saint as the man who entered Spain and converted the population to Christianity. Rather like the Spanish equivalent of St. Patrick.

"The Baroque image of a sword-wielding St James cutting the heads off Moors is not a very sensitive or evangelical image that fits the teachings of Christ, he added."

Perhaps, but then neither is the accepted portrayal of St. Lucy with her eyeballs on a plate and I certainly don't see that being removed from churches. Self mutilation has never been big in Church circles. I suppose she'll be next.

Or perhaps St. George, who legend tells was seen spuring on British soldiers fighting the Nazis in WWII. No pictures or statures of St. George the Nazi Vanquisher can be allowed now, can they?

Here's the question of the day on this bit: Why are they concerned about what a Muslim sees in a Catholic Church in a predominantly Catholic country? Just how many Muslims tour churches, and this one in particular?

Alejandro Barral, president of the cultural commission for the cathedral council, told BBC News Online: "This is not an opportunistic decision. This is not through fear of fanatics of any kind and nothing to do with 11 March or 11 September."

He said the decision was taken a few years ago, but simply had not yet been implemented.

Cut the crap, Alejandro.

Posted by Mamamontezz at May 3, 2004 12:39 PM