His dragon-slaying heroics have kept his legend alive through the centuries.
But the Church of England is considering rejecting England's patron saint St George on the grounds that his image is too warlike and may offend Muslims.
Clergy have started a campaign to replace George with St Alban, a Christian martyr in Roman Britain.
The scheme, to be considered by the Church's parliament, the General Synod, has met a cautious but sympathetic response from senior bishops.
But it clashes with the increasing popularity of the saint and his flag in England. The World Cup brought out millions of St George crosses as the symbol became increasingly mainstream and less frequently dismissed as a badge favoured only by far-Right political activists....
The image of St George was used to foster patriotism in 1940, when King George VI inaugurated the George Cross for civilian acts of the greatest bravery. The medal bears a depiction of the saint slaying the dragon.
However, George has become unfashionable among politicians and bureaucrats. His saint's day, April 23, has no official celebration in England, and councils have banned the St George flag from their buildings and vehicles during the World Cup.
The saint became an English hero during the crusades against the Muslim armies that captured Jerusalem in the 11th century.
Jeez, we wouldn't want to offend the Muslim community.
After all, they are so loyal and disinclined to give offense themselves
4 comments:
Saint George is twice as offensive as a normal Saint because he gives the Muslims an iconic double-whammy. Not only is Saint George himself the symbol of what the Victorians referred to as 'Muscular Christianity' (a politically incorrect concept anathema to the modern Church of England), but the dragon is very obviously the symbol of Islam, and apparently is referred to as such in the Bible, see http://illustratedpig.blogspot.com/2006/06/politically-incorrect-guide-lord-knows.html
Ah, I didn't know you were a Christian, ROP.
Not particularly orthodox and with some Buddhist influence. I have problems with a God who is compassionate, omniscient and omnipotent all at the same time.
I find the easiest solution (apart from invoking a literal 'Fall'), is to move towards the Buddhist concept of Vajradhara (sp?) where God is omniscient and compassionate but not omnipotent.
Needless to say I have immense problems with Allah, who is either some kind of demon/mara or Mohammed's cosmic projection of his own personality as a glorified oriental despot.
Allah is so omnipotent that he micromanages the universe, with Islamic theology rejecting the idea of cause and effect (one reason they never progressed much in science). Needless to say, with this absolute omnipotence there is no room for compassion or free will, and Allah leads people to hell as he chooses (as it says somewhere in the Koran)
I don't wear a St. George on my necklace for nothing. He is not my Confirmation Saint. I'm adding a great Jerusalem Cross as well.
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