[flower-buy]

"The display of foreign gods is offensive and does not reflect the views of the majority of Canadians," he continued.

He sounds a really Christian guy. I don't remember Jesus being Canadian, or did I miss the fifth gospel, the one with the bears, the moose and the chapters in French, eh?

[esconsise]

Imagine the uproar if they had put up some big cross at the zoo.

[OGOGOogoloshennya]

Imagine the uproar if they had put up some big cross at the zoo.

With a fat elephant on the cross. Win -win.

[jisee]

Pshht, what a disappointing thread. I was expecting a mob of nuts throwing rocks at a zoo (or better yet, climbing into the pen to charge the beast), and instead there's just a bunch of fringe nuts whining about something insignificant.

[byncnombmub]

fringe nuts

They're called Christians. There's no reason to be offensive.

[RBJamez]

Christ does not dance. You do the limbo with a cross on your back.

[TravelMan]

Meanwhile, Christians in Toronto keep busy also:
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/700283

Bishops make pitch to startled commuters

Idling taxis, hot dog stands and four smiling Anglican bishops in full regalia. That was the sight greeting sleepy-eyed commuters leaving Union Station during this morning's rush hour.

Sporting long, damask robes of pearly white or sky blue, heads topped with pointed bishop's hats, the clergy passed out cards encouraging the Bay Street hordes to make their way to a house of worship this Sunday. Most people accepted the handout drowsily, without comment; others seemed startled or amused at the group's elaborate outfits. A few passers-by stopped for quick chats before scurrying along to their offices.

"You invite people to baseball games or to the movies," said Bishop of Toronto Colin Johnson. "Traditionally, we've not been good at inviting people to come to church."

Johnson oversees the 211 parishes of an area that stretches from Mississauga to Brighton and north to Haliburton; in total, 80,000people are on the church's rolls. This morning's outing was modelled on the United Kingdom's "Back to Church Sunday" a two-year-old program that encourages regular churchgoers to invite friends to join them.

Although the foursome represent the 254 congregations of the Golden Horseshoe, Johnson stressed that they were encouraging Torontonians of all faiths to reconnect with their own traditions. "Faith gives life perspective, shape, direction and hope," he said. "It helps people see they're part of something larger than themselves."

Most who stopped to chat with the bishops seemed to be regular churchgoers already. Making his way from Whitby to Bay Street via GO Train, Gerald Godinho stopped to debate with Bishop Linda Nicholls about ordaining gay and lesbian priests, a contentious issue that has led various international Anglican Communion members to threaten fissure from the central church.

He said he has invited a friend with him to Carruther Creek Community Church in the past. "A single friend of mine, about a year back," Gondinho said. "I introduced him to the pastor of our youth group and I think he liked it. He lives downtown, so I set him up with Meeting House in Toronto."

Chartered accountant Bruce Armstrong exclaimed happily at running into Bishop Philip Poole-the two sang in the choir together at Wilfrid Laurier University, back when the school was known as Waterloo Lutheran.

"I've got a spring in my step this morning," said Armstrong, who still sings in the choir at his current church, Armour Heights Presbyterian in north Toronto.

[grattperret]

I did find a Jesus who bobbles his head.



Maybe he's keeping rhythm.

[PickEmUp]

You find nutjobs everywhere.

[WaydayTew]

X-Ashered!

[VoriEremiagem]

Especially in Churches.

Get your own jokes, dickgirl.

[mashabox]

Mostly in places of worship, or a zoo.

Among other places.

[freevideom]

In NZ they do.

[AbeldeldepBug]

I have a Christian friend with the name Ganesh.

[Alex Photographer]

I know I don't.

[ElenaEvgeevna]

With a fat elephant on the cross. Win -win.

We had a pig, once, here in Finland. Caused something of an uproar.

Come to think of it, this probably offends both Christians and Muslims. Two birds with one stone! (That offends PETA, no doubt.)

[Dndjzirw]

It certainly looks like Ganesh to me.

Ganesh, in the traditional representation, has a massive pot belly. So it's not a perfect Ganesh, but yeah, it does look like the Hindu god. This doesn't explain why the Christians are so het up about the statue. Didn't god make man in his own image? So every visitor to the zoo is a representation of god. Christianity is surely the big winner here.

[Feelundseenna]

Yes, we all know how well a crucifix would go over.

I'm actually in support of this. I'm tired of Christians taking crap whenever they have a public display. I'm tired of people taking a dump on Christmas. So goodbye Ganesh!

[AcecePesFeacy]

Yes, we all know how well a crucifix would go over.

I'm actually in support of this. I'm tired of Christians taking crap whenever they have a public display. I'm tired of people taking a dump on Christmas. So goodbye Ganesh!

So forgiveness means nothing to you then? Why wouldn't it be better to accept the Ganesh-resembling statue while there are images of Jesus, Martin Luther, Muhammed, Buddha, Confucius, Thor, Isis et al as well? Hell, stick up images of Cthulu (sp?) and Obi Wan too to represent all worshipped religions.

Surely you should be happy to let them worship their false idols, safe in the knowledge that you have the one true faith, but then help them to realise their mistake and try to convert them to Catholicism, whether they want to or not.

[Tusethede]

What is there to forgive? Obviously, asher, et al aren't interested in anything resembling 'forgiveness', 'tolerance' or 'acceptance' wrt to Christian displays in public.

Judge not others by how they treat you; treat them in the spirit expected of a Christian. Turn the other cheek for goodness sake.

Look, you can't put up a Christmas tree in a library because it offends some *****s, so I sure as heck don't want a Ganesh. Let us put up Christmas trees and show some understanding and then we can talk about Ganesh. Personally, I don't mind it at all, but I get sick and tired of people demanding that Christianity be purged from the public sphere. You shouldn't be engaging in a debate about whose religion is better. Stay true to your own, and you'll go to heaven. If you can convince others to change to your religion then all the better for it, but don't attack them for not practising yours.

Actually, the proper Christian response is to destroy idols altogether. Do you really want that type of response? Jesus preached tolerance, and so I'd expect his followers to be tolerant of those who choose to follow other religions, rather than destroying their idols. His ideal was for you to convince them to abandon their religion and follow his/yours, then for them to destroy their own idols.

Or did I completely misunderstand my Catholic school's teachings (even if I ultimately rejected their religion, the guiding rules are mostly sound), and you should re-enact the Inquisition? This can't be the Christian way, nor should it be, even to someone who has only flicked through the Bible, rather than read the whole lot as I have (apart from my schooling in the New Testament, I read the rest because it was vital secondary reading for anyone studying sixteenth century literature at uni).