When it comes to Catholics, the British have a great tradition of finding horrible ways to get rid of them but we have grown and matured since the days of setting fire to Joan of Arc or quartering Guy Fawkes, now we just set fire to images of them.
November 5th is Bonfire Night in the UK, when we pile up all those old wooden gate posts that have been in the shed since they blew down in February and set fire to them along with an effigy of Guy Fawkes or whoever we don't like this year.
Celebrities and politicians are fair game for the flames, as are sportsmen and anyone in the news but as usual the Catholic Church find the whole thing distasteful and anti-Catholic.
I attended a bonfire and fireworks party this evening and i can't recall any anti-catholic sentiments being muttered as the flames licked around the paws of the poor teddy bear chosen to wear a Manchester United shirt and Rolf Harris mask and adorn the top seat of the bonfire, heard a few anti-Wayne Rooney ones though.
Father Eric Flood, the parish priest in Lewes, says the ritual of burning effigies of Guy Fawkes every year is 'moral racism' and he was most miffed when Lewes decided to burn the top Catholic and set fire to the Pope.
I'm certain that most people who attend Guy Fawkes' Nights celebrations don't do it out of some hatred of Catholics, simply a chance to go 'ooh', 'aah' and 'whee' at a few overpriced fireworks and watch a teddy bear make the ultimate sacrifice.
6 comments:
Ha ha. I see your dry Brit humor at work. Not really very funny. Now burning photos and frescos of Caesar Chavez, castro, or some other lefty… that is funny
In re the message behind the message, I say fair enough, but in the US if someone burned a Muslim entity or icon all hell would break loose. There is a major double standard that christians are a fair target and all other religious beliefs are off limits.
if one is the target of attack in the US it is now typically called racism by the left (regardless of whether it is really something else like age bias, gender bias, racism, etc.) unless you are white, male, christian or traditional in any way…
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If Chavez or Castro ever tried to blow up the Houses Of Parliament i expect they would also have been dealt with in the same way or they will possibly be cheered, politicians are not popular at the moment.
I agree that if someone tried to start up a movement of burning an effigy of Catholics, or any group, once a year now it would rightly be put down at birth but as it was so long ago and i would bet my favourite nail varnish that most people don't realise the Catholic connection to Guy Fawkes and why we have bonfires.
In Lewes (East Sussex) they still burn an effigy of the sitting Pope...
...along with others who upset the body politic of the day i.e. when I last went, it was Condaleeza Rice :)
I did see somewhere is burning a 30ft Katie Hopkins from the Apprentice this year which is a bit of a strange choice when there are so many more worthy politicians and Radio 1 DJ's from the 1970s.
We're spoilt for choice these days :)
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