Church removes 'scary crucifix'

[Are_grits_groceries]

A large sculpture of Christ on the cross has been removed from outside a church in West Sussex after its vicar said it was "scaring young children".

The Reverend Ewen Souter said the 10ft crucifix was "a horrifying depiction of pain and suffering" which was also "putting people off".
<snip>
Mr Souter said: "Children have commented on how scary they find it and how off-putting they find it as a symbol outside the church.

"As a key exterior symbol for us it was putting people off rather than having a sense of hope and life and the power of the resurrection."

He said rather than undermining the work of the cross, the church wanted to portray "an accurate biblical picture of the crucifixion as a moment of hopefulness for the world, and not one of despair".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/sussex/7816941.stm

Wouldn't want to scare anybody.......

[FiveGoodMen]

1. They drop all that stuff about Hell, too?

[anigbrowl]

30. They're not that big on Hell in the C of E

I joined for a few years after becoming disillusioned with being Catholic. Eventually I gave it up altogether for intellectual reasons, but I still found the Anglicans to be nice, balanced people who were more interested in doing good deeds than obsessing over sinners.

[FiveGoodMen]

36. Well, I applaud that!

(not sarcasm)

[truebrit71]

39. Yeah, pretty much "Cake or Death" really....

....:rofl:

[ulysses]

2. because crucifixion is actually quite pleasant. n/t

[NoPasaran]

13. At least you're out in the fresh air!

Not stuck behind a desk in a cube farm.

[ulysses]

16. always look on the bright side of life...

:)

[moggie]

17. Could be worse

Well, you could be stabbed.

[DJ13]

3. I bet they could sell that to an S&M shop

[evlbstrd]

4. That's nothing.

Growing up, I had the most bloody and violent crucifix hanging over my bed. Sweet dreams, little boy.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

9. My little girlfriend had a big statue on her dresser

The Sacred Heart. It was a bust of the Blessed Mother with her hand inside her chest, holding this (ostensibly) throbbing, glowing heart. Bright red.

My little girlfriend was goofy, but I now have to wonder if that statue had something to do with it.

[Canuckistanian]

5. Nothing says peace and love better than a man being tortured to death

They should celebrate it in all it's reality.

[JuniperLea]

6. Why do they insist on keeping him on the cross?

Hasn't he suffered enough?

I always thought a large stone was more appropriate a symbol... like the one rolled away from his tomb, symbolizing the resurrection.

When I was a Scout leader, I held meetings in multi-purpose rooms at the local Catholic church. First off, any kids there early would be scared witless when I had to knock on the convent door to get the key... then we went into a very dark area, and the lights were cllleeeeeeeeaaarr on the other side of the room, up a stage, behind the curtains, in a room with a scary black box with crosses cut into it, and a candle burning inside. THEN when the lights went on, you were face to face with a statue of the Virgin Mary... with a snake coiled around her feet... and the snake and feet were at eye level.

But I digress...

Yeah, that's some scary shit. A loving God wouldn't want to scare you, would he/she?

[anonymous171]

7. lol protestants.

Too much pain and suffering for the innocent eyes to see. The Catholic Church that I attended in Tijuana Mexico had a full corpus, complete with blood. It is a good reminder to all of us to see Christ in those that suffer injustice and hurt.

My gripe with the Catholic Church isn't about their crosses but with their immoral policies regarding gay people and women priests.

[Kaylee]

18. LMAO..Yes, us Protestants like our religion without all the messiness

of guilt, and learning latin and CCD classes. O8) Although, I am jealous that Catholic church services are shorter. :)

[LittleClarkie]

21. Whadya want. We're Norwegian

A very timid, yet stubborn people.

[anonymous171]

26. It really depends on the priest

I've sat through 3 hour homilies before. The priest was describing his sister's slow death due to brain cancer in great detail. The worst part was that it was a Children's Christmas mass so all the children were sitting on the floor around the pulpit. :rofl:

[RC]

8. They're going to replace it with this inside, correct?

[lurky]

10. As a little kid, I wondered how my Catholic friends

could fall asleep with those crucifixes hanging on the walls over their beds. I thought they were scary.

[monmouth]

11. Ah but see they kept us safe during the night, ya know..."if I should die

before I wake.."....

[Mz Pip]

12. All crucifixes are scary

but that was what passed for capital punishment back then. I wonder if all those public torture murder executions were a deterent to crime.

[Critters2]

32. They were intended as a deterrent to rebellion. nt

[donco6]

14. They'll replace it with the GorgeousPretty Crucifix! n/t

[moggie]

23. No, better than that!

[donco6]

27. LOL!

You are so going to hell.

[argonchloride]

37. Or, for the sports fans

http://www.zazzle.com/jesus_hockey_player_jesus_saves_shirt-235927425599789592

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. An artist put a lot of work into that.

I like it. From an artistic perspective.

[ZombieHorde]

20. I agree with your art critique.

[BlueJazz]

19. Hey..Paul...Paul!!...I can see your house from up here.

[Ian David]

22. Oh, if only I could find Sam Kinison's bit about The Crucifixion on YouTube. n/t

[JVS]

24. Everyone loves to eat the sausage of salvation, but nobody likes to see how the sausage was made.

[moggie]

25. I reject your sausage of salvation

It's really the frankfurter of fantasy. I prefer the meatballs of enlightenment, marinaded in the marinara of freedom.

[QC]

35. {posted in wrong place}

.

[QC]

38. True, but this parish is a happy clappy one.

It's all about entertaining the "seekers," Don't want to bore them with all that old-fashioned stuff about suffering and redemption.

[QC]

28. Happy clappy charismatics posing as Anglicans.

I'm really fed up with these people.

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

29. Perhaps they'd prefer

Doesn't it just... pop?

[walldude]

31. Church needs to get a clue. In the words of the immortal Bill Hicks:

"If you were Jesus, would you ever want to see another fucking cross again? Kinda stupid to hang one on the front door don't you think?"

[rrneck]

33. Purely a marketing decision.

[mitchum]

34. But if the crucifix isn't scary, how can that "Jesus suffered for you" nonsense...

be effective?