Washington National Cathedral to remove stained glass windows honoring Robert E. Lee, Stonewall...
Source: The Washington Post
Washington National Cathedral to remove stained glass windows honoring Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson
By Michelle Boorstein September 6 at 12:39 PM
Leaders at the Washington National Cathedral, the closest thing in the countrys capital to an official church, have decided after two years of study and debate to remove two stained-glass windows honoring Confederate figures Robert E. Lee and and Stonewall Jackson.
Saying the stories told in the two 4-foot by 6-foot windows were painful, distracting and one-sided, a majority of the Cathedrals governing body voted to remove the windows Tuesday night. Wednesday morning stone masons were at work putting up scaffolding to begin taking out the art that was installed 64 years ago.
This isnt simply a conversation about the history of the windows, but a very real conversation in the wider culture about how the Confederate flag and the Old South narrative have been lively symbols today for white supremacists. Wed be made of stone ourselves if we werent paying attention to that, said Bishop Mariann Budde, leader of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington, which includes the Cathedral.
The Cathedral is the official seat of the Episcopal Church, a small Protestant denomination that historically has counted many of Americas elite as members, including presidents from George Washington and James Madison to George H.W. Bush. It is the second largest church building in the country and is typically host to official events like presidential funerals and official interfaith ceremonies on presidential swearing-in days, including that of President Donald Trump.
Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/acts-of-faith/wp/2017/09/06/washington-national-cathedral-to-remove-stained-glass-windows-honoring-robert-e-lee-stonewall-jackson/?hpid=hp_hp-more-top-stories_no-name%3Ahomepage%2Fstory&utm_term=.13e79764ecd8
TlalocW
(15,381 posts)Of secular historical figures? And if there's a reason for that, why have stained glass windows of men who fought on the wrong side of history?
TlalocW
LanternWaste
(37,748 posts)It's quite common. Canterbury has stained glass windows depicting American paratroopers in action on D-Day. First Baptist in Dallas has one pane illustrating the WPA workers.
As an aside, history, like science does not take sides.
mountain grammy
(26,620 posts)but it doesn't need to be glorified or, in this case, kind of made holy. Stained glass in a church, to me, depicts some holy person or event, although there are other examples, as you pointed out. I just don't see the Civil War and the officers of the Confederacy qualifying.
That they were installed 64 years ago, in my lifetime, is appalling to me. Still honoring the great glory of the war for white supremacy 90 years after the fact and just when Civil Rights were becoming a cause. I'm thinking that was no accident.
Lars39
(26,109 posts)It's kinda buried in the article, but it's there.
BadgerMom
(2,771 posts)I'm glad they're replacing those traitors. I thought the winners got to write history.
mgardener
(1,816 posts)Are the same ones that cheered when Sadam Hussein's statue was toppled.
And Lennin's in Russia. Stalin.
And I dare say they cheered the destruction of the Berlin wall.
treestar
(82,383 posts)brought down. I bet they would have cheered that one on. Then again they might have been loyalists in that day.
Bradical79
(4,490 posts)Dave Starsky
(5,914 posts)Prohibition against graven images of worship, and all that. Read your BIble.
I had no idea these were in the National Cathedral.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)csziggy
(34,136 posts)The Protestant Episcopal Cathedral Foundation, under the first seven Bishops of Washington, erected the cathedral under a charter passed by the United States Congress on January 6, 1893.[5] Construction began on September 29, 1907, when the foundation stone was laid in the presence of President Theodore Roosevelt and a crowd of more than 20,000, and ended 83 years later when the "final finial" was placed in the presence of President George H. W. Bush in 1990. Decorative work, such as carvings and statuary, is ongoing as of 2011. The Foundation is the legal entity of which all institutions on the Cathedral Close are a part; its corporate staff provides services for the institutions to help enable their missions, conducts work of the Foundation itself that is not done by the other entities, and serves as staff for the Board of Trustees.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Washington_National_Cathedral
The windows rto be removed are probably there because some important member was involved with the United Daughters of the Confederacy and arranged to donate enough to pay for them. Remember, it's all about the money and damn near nothing to do with beliefs.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)then.
Smells a bit like a lemon test violation though...
csziggy
(34,136 posts)From what I understand the National Cathedral is not funded by taxpayer money (as stated in the Wikipedia article), it is wholly funded by the Episcopal Church and donations to the church. Of course many if not all those donations become deductions to reduce taxes so it could be argued that it is indirectly funded by taxpayers, as are all qualifying churches that receive deductible donations.
The windows would fit into the same category - donations that could be tax deductible.
AtheistCrusader
(33,982 posts)I'm used to various religions being bound up in racism and bigotry and the infliction of human suffering. Doesn't even give me pause anymore.
csziggy
(34,136 posts)By my uncle the evangelical Baptist preacher. I come from a long line of bigoted Baptist preachers - one was partially responsible for the Alabama Baptist Convention being created - and wanted the creation of the Southern Baptist Convention - but he died before the second was formed.
That lovely example of humankind left the church that ordained him in South Carolina when they decided that church officials should not own slaves. He took his household to Alabama, becoming one of the largest slave owners in the county while preaching racism and bigotry.
I have nothing to do with that side of my family - they cut me off when my husband and I were married without any ceremony, religious or otherwise. They considered that we were living in sin - if they only knew - we lived in sin for several years before we made our partnership legal. Their attitudes just solidified my objection to religion.I waiver between atheist and agnostic. If I had to make a choice I would call myself an apathetic agnostic: http://apatheticagnostic.com/ourchurch/intro.html
Old Terp
(464 posts)QC
(26,371 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)Weird.