A Christian group is calling for the removal of an elephant statue, modelled after a Hindu god, from the Calgary Zoo, calling it "selective religious partiality."
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It was commissioned to look like Ganesh...
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Jim Blake, national chair of Concerned Christians Canada, sent a letter to the zoo on Thursday, calling for the sculpture to be removed.
"The zoo is not a place of religious indoctrination, it is supposed to be a safe family environment free of religious icons and selective religious partiality," Blake wrote.
"The displaying of different gods in a public place like this is an offence to our beliefs and does not represent the diversity of views that should be reflected."
If the zoo wants to keep the statue and "[embark] on teaching the public about world religions, Blake suggested that the facility also erect the cross of Jesus Christ, the Ten Commandments and Noah's Ark
"The display of foreign gods is offensive and does not reflect the views of the majority of Canadians," he continued.
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"The display of foreign gods is offensive and does not reflect the views of the majority of Canadians," he continued.
Great, we're in agreement.
"The display of foreign gods is offensive and does not reflect the views of the majority of Canadians," he continued.
Foreign gods? You mean Jesus was Canadian? I always heard he came from the Middle East.
If it wasn't so cold out and thus a waste of money, I'd go to the zoo and visit the statue just to spite this douche.
We Calgarians apologize for this idiot.
If that zoo is publicly funded, I agree that it should be taken down (unless it's not actually supposed to be a Hindu god and he's just being paranoid). If it's not publicly funded, MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS.
So many people in my city are idiots. This guy could find a lot of supporters among Rob Anders voters.
It's not a statue of Ganesh, it's a statue of an anthropomorphized elephant that happens to resemble Ganesh.
We're still talking about this? Anyway, Mr. Blake has absolutely no clue what zoos actually do. This CAN include pointing out that people have different religions by pointing out something interesting about their animals (even in a publicly funded institution, the way museums do). I don't know how this statue is presented, but the simplest remedy is a small sign with a fact on it. He ought to go to Palm Beach zoo (and probably any number of others with the same sorts of displays) where there are replicas of temples! (Mayan temples in the jaguar area.)
O...K. It's a private zoo, they can actually do whatever the hell they want. Besides which, religious orgs. in Canada can get public money, they just have to obey the Charter whilst using it (like let teens attend Catholic proms with gay dates, etc. gasp). And they can even teach religion in public schools as long as they teach *all of them equally* in a "this is what X believes" way. No lawyer will even touch this case. It's nice to see fundie Christians are psycho bigots everywhere though, not just America. No wait, I mean horrifying.
The impression I get is that they wanted a Humanoid-Elephant statue and since Ganesh is a pre-existing example of this, they requested it be based on him. However, aside from its garb and the whole Humanoid with an Elephant head thing, it's not Ganesh - It has neither an extra set of arms, nor any religious icon associated with him, which the article said they made sure were omitted.
So, I don't see the problem. Something based on imagery in religious art and something that depicts a religious figure are two very different things. If someone wanted to create a statue of a hippie in a publicly owned park and based it off the traditional view of Jesus, I wouldn't care. But if they made a statue of Jesus, complete with religious symbols, then it would be a different story. However, these people would probably be fine with that since it "reflects the views of the majority."
a) The statue is of an elephant, in front of an elephant enclosure. Besides which (if I'm not completely imagining things) Spike's real name is Ganesha. If that's the case, it makes a certain ammount of sense.
b) Foreign gods? Like that middle eastern God that was imported to this country by European immigrants? (nothing against that God, I'm Christian too, but the logical fallacy annoys me.)
c) "diversity of views" =/= one statue of Ganesha and a Christian theme park.
d) You are not the majority of Canadians. I suspect most people don't care that much: it's just a statue.
So basically, having religious symbols of Hindu is selective religious religious partiality, but having Christian symbols is perfectly fine?
What I'm getting from all this is "Christianity is the only religion that counts."
I agree the statue should be removed if it's a public zoo. If it is private land, mind your own business.
And the worst part is that IF that was a cross or Noah's Ark or the Ten Commandments, these people would fight to teeth to keep it there.
Well, I see no problem here. Now everyone is catching up to the "No establishment clause applies to everyone" jig.
The statue is likely not there to promote other religions, but to give ambient to a section of the Zoo
"[embark] on teaching the public about world religions, Blake suggested that the facility also erect the cross of Jesus Christ, the Ten Commandments and Noah's Ark
Did this guy mention the Star of David? The Ying-Yang? Budha? No, coincidentialy, he only mentions christian icons.
The sad part is that, if it's a publicly-funded zoo, I agree that religious icons shouldn't be displayed there. However:
"'The display of foreign gods is offensive and does not reflect the views of the majority of Canadians,' he continued."
Foreign gods? I didn't know that gods were from a particular country. Except God. He's American. Ask any American Christian Republican fundie. Which I don't understand why a Canadian is worshiping an American god if he doesn't like foreign gods.
Ah, yes, Calgary. Smack damn in the middle of Canada's Bible Belt, such as it is.
If the zoo wants to keep the statue and "[embark] on teaching the public about world religions, Blake suggested that the facility also erect the cross of Jesus Christ, the Ten Commandments and Noah's Ark
While I could see Noah's Ark as a metaphor for a zoological park, what the fuck does a Roman method of execution and stone slabs with mythical rules on them have to do with animals?
I like that statue. Here's a picture of it.
image
As you can see, nobody is worshipping it. Would you like a picture of Jesus in front of the Jackasses? Would that make you feel better?
On another subject "does not reflect the views of the majority of Canadians"
Edited to add:
Oh, and stop with the Alberta bashing. I found less racism, less sexism and less fundies in Calgary, than I have anywhere else I've been in Western Canada, except maybe Whitehorse.
>.> Not you too, Canada, not my home country.
FYI, Canada isn't a theocracy any more than the US is, and we have people of many different religions living here. And, frankly, Ganesha isn't any more foreign to Canada than Christianity (I bet you wouldn't call THAT "foreign!") since they were all brought over by immigrants.
And the statue being modeled off of a Hindu god doesn't make it Hindu, it just makes it an elephant.
He does have a sort of point in principle I suppose, why should any religious icons be displayed in a public zoo? At the same time, how many non-Hindus would even recognise an elephant statue as an image of a Hindu god? I think this is making a mountain out of a molehill to be honest. If there was a model of Noah's ark at the zoo, I wouldn't go throwing a hissy fit over it and demanding it be instantly removed. It just isn't that big a deal.
I think he's a douche to object. I'm certain the Ganesh won't create Hindu converts. My opinion is irrelevant as the fact Christians doubtless think the same way about my objections to their religious displays. Not just Fundies, almost all Christians fail to see the point.
@Brenz et al
In short...
Confused?
So were we! You can find all of this, and more, on Fundies Say the Darndest Things!
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