Iconoclasts turn their fury on Kenya's colonial past

[emad]

Telegraph
(Filed: 16/12/2004)

Church elders in Kenya have begun to destroy some of the country's most valuable and historic colonial-era religious imagery after a commission ruled that early Scottish missionaries to East Africa were "probably devil-worshippers".

A group led by senior Presbyterian officials has already torn down symbols at St Andrew's in Nairobi, the main Scottish church in the country, prompting condemnation from British diplomats, politicians and parishioners.

A campaign has been launched to prevent the desecration of the country's oldest surviving Presbyterian church, built in 1907, which the group is threatening to "cleanse" this weekend. Opponents are threatening physical resistance to end what is being described as Kenya's "Iconoclastic Fury".

Among the images destroyed at St Andrew's are 30 stained-glass windows, tapestries, wrought-iron grilles, Royal Air Force shields and memorials to parishioners killed in the East Africa campaigns of the two world wars.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;sessionid=KYPNKD3T50PFTQFIQMGSNAGAVCBQWJVC?xml=/news/2004/12/16/wkenya16.xml&sSheet=/news/2004/12/16/ixworld.html&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=101795

[amazona]

1. how sad

I can't make your link work so don't know the whole story.

As a Presbyterian myself I thought it was many a year or maybe even many a century since Presbyterians had condemned stained glass and other beautiful church decoration as "devil worship."

[emad]

2. Here's some more:

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church of East Africa, the Rev David Githii, said a commission appointed to look at the symbols had concluded that they were masonic.

Many Kenyan Christians believe there is a link between Freemasons and Satanists. Fear of devil worship runs deep in Kenya; a presidential inquiry into the practice ordered six years ago, reported that Satanic rituals, practices and symbols had become institutionalised.

The group took particular objection to the St Andrew's Cross, as well as to depictions of snakes and other wild animals in the stained glass.

Mr Githii insists that since the images had been removed, the atmosphere in the church had improved dramatically.

"These masonic objects gave off some kind of evil power that was affecting worship, a Satanic power," he said. "Now that we have removed them people have been revived and they are singing much more vigorously." He urged the Church in Scotland to follow Kenya's lead to stop congregations dwindling.

[Blue_Tires]

3. rememer that's how the taliban started to become news

tearing down buddhist structures

[ursacorwin]

4. no. there's a difference.

do you folks even know what these symbols stand for? think about it for a second- it's basically a celebration of conquest and the invader's religion. i know that a lot of kenyans are xtian now, but shouldn't they have the right to adorn their churches with symbols of african origin? why should they venerate a scottish church and scottish/euro design? i'd bet most kenyans are glad that europeans aren't running things anymore, and if they take down some reminders of a bloody, brutal colonial past, i won't object.

trollshield: of course i am not saying that the xtian cross in general represents colonial crimes, but that in this specific case the cross is more than just a symbol of religion.

[DavidDvorkin]

5. Therefore all Roman ruins should be destroyed

If they're outside Rome.