The National Cathedral will be removing two images of the Confederate Flag from the building’s stained glass windows, after a period of public discussion on issues of race, slavery and justice.
The windows in question memorialize Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson; they were installed in 1953 after lobbying by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
National Cathedral Will Remove Confederate Flag Stained Glass Windows https://t.co/KzZI7mkq8C
— NPR (@NPR) June 9, 2016
The most important facing the church, and the nation, is whether men can go to the bathroom with little girls. But this is an important issue too, so I am glad it is receiving the attention it deserves. I only hope they will replace the Lee/Jackson windows with something about Muhammad.
More fitting would be to replace one Lee of Virginia with another Lee of Virginia – Peter James Lee who didst defend TEC against those who would ally with the Africans who sought to cling to antiquated beliefs. Similarly, the other pane could be devoted to Katharine Jefferts Schori, who, together with David Booth Beers, stood like a stone wall to preserve the property whilst keeping those who believe the Church has no power to revise its own teachings out in the darkness.
Better to build a McDonalds than to have a Biblical congregation!
Agreed. Beers and Schori are a good alternative to Muhammad.
O let them play and think they are doing something of worth. You know like the folks who destroyed the English churches in spasms of opposition to Romish-ness.
Later generations will judge of these lapsarians as we of those.
It seems as though the removal of these images has less to do with what they represented at the time of their installation (1953) than with what they are perceived to represent today. The Cathedral isn’t removing all Confederate imagery — the “Stars and Bars” flags will remain, only the two Confederate battle flags will be removed. This is because, in Bishop Budde’s words, the image of this flag “has become, for many Americans, an image of hatred and racial supremacy.”
This would possibly be analogous to removing the images of the historic Gadsden flag, because the image of this flag “has become, for many Americans, an image of the tea party.” The Cathedral Chapter is divorcing itself from the (messy but valuable) context of history, and instead catering to the cultural whims of the present.
#4–Good point. My wife and I were once strong supporters of the Cathedral and my wife was asked to be the South Carolina representative to the cathedral in the 90’s (which she was unable to do, due to other commitments). I haven’t been in the place since Frank Griswold’s enthronement so I guess I don’t really care what they do. TEC is irrelevant, as is the National Cathedral.