Sunday, September 26, 2010
French Foray Into Mosque Mess
PARIS — A Muslim stonemason who spent nearly four decades helping to restore a Roman Catholic cathedral in France has been immortalized as a winged gargoyle peering out from its facade — with the inscription “God is great’’ at his clawed feet.
I take that as an insult!
And truly, I'm sick of the religion divide being constantly pushed into the debate.
This sign of inter-religious friendship is rooted in the Medieval tradition and reflects the city of Lyon’s links to its large Muslim population. But a widely publicized outcry from a tiny extreme-right group has forced the Archdiocese of Lyon into damage control....
Yeah, they ALWAYS SEEM TO HAVE OUT-SIZED INFLUENCE and POWER!
In France, where Islam is the country’s second religion, the government has worked to get Muslims to integrate into French culture, while at the same time confronting cases of Islamophobia, from the desecration of Muslim graves to attacks on mosques.
Tell it to the FRENCH WOMEN you are attacking for political purposes.
Also see: France's Genocide of the Gypsies
Yeah, the French are real open-minded folk!
Ahmed Benzizine, a practicing Muslim born in Algeria, a former French colony, sees the gargoyle in his image as “a message of peace and tolerance.’’
“When I started to work in churches . . . exactly 37 years ago, it was considered a sin that a Muslim enter a place of worship other than a mosque,’’ he said.
He has worked off and on since 1973 at Saint Jean Cathedral, which dominates the old city of Lyon and has been honored as a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Benzizine, 59, who arrived in France in 1970, is tickled to see his likeness on the facade of the cathedral, which dates to the 12th to 14th centuries and combines both Gothic and Roman architecture.
He said he liked the idea that he’ll still be around, in stone, when his friends are long gone....
Gargoyles, usually grotesque creatures with open mouths originally used as water spouts, were popular in Medieval times.
But it's a compliment.
Experts say they may also have been used to scare off evil....
Must have attracted it, what with all the pooper-pumping priests.
The Benzizine gargoyle has been in place for about six months, but until recently, few people noticed.
Gee, I WONDER what could have CAUSED the newspaper to pick it up NOW -- especially such a FRINGE GROUP!
A recent campaign by a small extreme-right group denouncing the likeness of a Muslim on a Catholic institution and the inscription proclaiming “God is great’’ in French and Arabic — ‘Dieu est grand, Allahu akbar’ — has put everyone on the defensive....
And they even got a whole article in the paper 'bout it.
--more--"
Also see: French Foibles
You see who is responsible for all your problems, Frenchie?
