A proposal to erect a pagan “Amazonian love god” statue near a cathedral in the English city of Wakefield has drawn the ire of residents who claim its placement mocks Christianity.
At least three residents of the city have formally complained over the plan to place the sculpture, one of five pieces of art funded by the government with a million pounds of taxpayer cash, near the city’s medieval-era cathedral, which belongs to the Church of England.
“I strongly object to this piece of sculpture being placed in the cathedral precinct and in particular to its sitting so close to the cathedral itself,” one of the objectors said, the local Wakefield Express newspaper reports.
“How can you possibly think that the erection of a Sun God opposite the central place of Christian worship in the city and district, could be acceptable?” they said and added, “It is at best insensitive and at worst a deliberate attempt to mock Christianity, the cathedral and all it stands for. Is this a precedent?”
Complaints have been made since a planning application was submitted to put the bronze 1.9m tall sculpture on permanent display in the city centre.https://t.co/GEV5FzLeS0
— Wakefield Express (@WakeExpress) February 27, 2023
Another stated that the statue being placed so close to the cathedral “would completely mock the Christian faith in every way.”
The sculpture was supposedly inspired to conservationist and naturalist Charles Waterton, who opened the first nature reserve in the world near Wakefield in the 19th century.
Another objector, however, noted that Waterton himself was a devout Christian and therefore would not have approved of placing the pagan statue in the vicinity of the cathedral.
Watch: Vatican’s Former Doctrine Czar Decries Placement of Amazon ‘Idols’ in Church https://t.co/ks9FHE0OMf via @BreitbartNews
— Thomas D. Williams, PhD (@tdwilliamsrome) October 25, 2019
The complaints over the sculpture come as four pupils from a local school in Wakefield, aged around 14, were suspended this week after slightly tearing and smudging a copy of the Qur’an that had been purchased by one of the boys.
The slight damage to the holy book was taken so seriously that a local imam demanded members of the local Muslim community attend a meeting with the principal of the school, police and one of the parents of the boys.
“The slightest bit of disrespect is not accepted, and it is not going to be tolerated at any point, in any city, in any country by any Muslim, and that’s the fact of the matter,” the imam said.
One of the parents, a woman who stated her son is autistic, wore a headscarf during the meeting and profusely apologised, claiming her son had been subjected to multiple death threats.
— Chris Tomlinson (@TomlinsonCJ) February 27, 2023
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