{"id":2591,"date":"2007-11-18T16:14:45","date_gmt":"2007-11-18T21:14:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/2007\/11\/18\/censoring-the-cross-at-william-mary\/"},"modified":"2007-11-18T16:17:11","modified_gmt":"2007-11-18T21:17:11","slug":"censoring-the-cross-at-william-mary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/2007\/11\/censoring-the-cross-at-william-mary\/","title":{"rendered":"Censoring the Cross at William & Mary"},"content":{"rendered":"

Human Events<\/a> | Robert H. Knight | Nov. 16, 2007<\/p>\n

In contrast, a few hundred yards away in the circa 1699 Christopher Wren Building on the campus of William & Mary, a small brass cross that had graced the chapel\u2019s altar, was now encased in \u2026 plastic. What had been a symbol of the ongoing importance of faith to America\u2019s continued story was now officially a museum piece. <\/p>\n

While the vets proudly marched nearby, the second oldest university in the nation (after Harvard) was officially dissing the faith that launched the American Revolution as — you guessed it — not inclusive enough.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The Wren cross was on its way to relic status in October 2006, when William & Mary President Gene R. Nichol had it removed following a complaint from a visiting prospective student. After an outcry from the campus community and alumni, Nichol responded in an Oct. 27 e-mail, which read in part:<\/p>\n

Let me be clear. I have not banished the cross from the Wren Chapel. The Chapel, as you know, is used for religious ceremonies by members of all faiths. The cross will remain in the Chapel and be displayed on the altar at appropriate religious services. <\/p>\n

But the Chapel is also used frequently for College events that are secular in nature–and should be open to students and staff of all beliefs. Whether celebrating our happiest moments, marking our greatest achievements, or finding solace during our most profound sadness, our Chapel, like our entire campus, must be welcoming to all. <\/em><\/p>\n

Translated, this means that the cross must be banned if there is even a possibility of offense. As you can imagine, this did not put the matter to rest, so Nichol explained further, as recorded by the Richmond Times-Dispatch on Nov. 17, 2006:<\/p>\n

The display of a Christian cross — the most potent symbol of my own religion in the heart of our most important building — sends an unmistakable message that the chapel belongs more fully to some of us than to others. That there are, at the college, insiders and outsiders. Those for whom our most revered place is meant to be keenly welcoming, and those for whom presence is only tolerated.<\/p>\n

That distinction, I believe to be contrary to the best values of the college.<\/em><\/p>\n

There are lots of foreign students at William & Mary. Wouldn\u2019t it make sense, then, to remove all American flags from the campus lest they offend someone? Come to think of it, I don\u2019t recall seeing any. <\/p>\n

But back to the chapel. Let\u2019s leave aside the absurdity of being embarrassed that a Christian chapel would sport a cross instead of a Buddha, a Muslim crescent, a Wiccan pentagram or a statue of Zeus. And let\u2019s leave aside the fact that religious tolerance is a hallmark of Christian influence, unlike any other religion. Nichol justified his actions by appealing to universal tolerance: <\/p>\n

\u2026 The Wren is no mere museum or artifact. It touches every student who enrolls at the college, It defines us. And it must define us all.<\/em><\/p>\n

Nichol got religion, of sorts, apparently, when a donor in February yanked a $12 million gift to the university over the cross removal. For a few months, the cross was put on display on the altar on Sundays, then packed away during the week. Nichol refused to restore it to the altar permanently despite a petition with more than 12,000 signatories. He bravely said, \u201cThe core value of the college cannot be for sale.\u201d And what\u2019s that core value again? Oh, yes, \u201creligious diversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

In February 2007, the university hosted a \u201cSex Worker Fair,\u201d complete with strippers, sex toys and \u201cerotic dances.\u201d The Virginia Gazette reported this comment from Nichol when he was asked why this event was allowed on his campus. <\/p>\n

“I don’t like this kind of show and I don’t like having it here,” he said. “But it’s not the practice and province of universities to censor or cancel performances because they are controversial.”<\/em><\/p>\n

No, of course not. And the university officials knew what they were hosting, because it was the second straight year for the Sex Worker Fair. <\/p>\n

On August 3, the cross was returned to Wren Chapel, but placed in a plastic box atop a wood base. <\/p>\n

For the secularists at war with America\u2019s traditional values, these are huge victories. Sex shows are in, Christianity is under glass. If you can treat Christianity as a relic, a bygone faith made obsolete by scientific materialism, you can reshape the world according to whatever the New Age wants. Which, apparently, is sex shows. As Chesterton observed, sex is the materialists\u2019 religion. <\/p>\n

What would those marching veterans have thought of all this? Most of them were probably blissfully unaware, since the media lost interest in the story back in August, when the cross went into the box. <\/p>\n

But if secularists are celebrating, they should take heed. As much as it annoys them, Jesus wouldn\u2019t stay in the Tomb. And neither will the power of His cross be contained by a glass box. Or one made of plastic.<\/p>\n

. . . more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Human Events | Robert H. Knight | Nov. 16, 2007 In contrast, a few hundred yards away in the circa 1699 Christopher Wren Building on the campus of William & Mary, a small brass cross that had graced the chapel\u2019s altar, was now encased in \u2026 plastic. What had been a symbol of the ongoing … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":497,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"generate_page_header":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[37,66,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2591","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-culture-war","category-education","category-persecution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2591","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/497"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2591"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2591\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2591"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2591"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.orthodoxytoday.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2591"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}