Stranger Than Satire - Porn and Crucifixes

It's getting harder and harder distinguishing between spoof news reports and so-called "real life". I was browsing the ever-funny "Daily Mash" website and then switched over to the allegedly serious "Daily Telegraph" for the "real news". What do I see? An item explaining that US porn barons are applying to Congress for a $5 billion bailout for the adult entertainment industry. Seems reasonable - the porn merchants probably have more satisfied customers than the Big Three of Detroit who are getting so much taxpayers' money.

But in the "Holy Smoke" blog on the "Telegraph" website its Religious Affairs correspondent Damian Thompson describes an even more surreal story from the little town of Horsham in the beautiful county of Sussex, south of London. The vicar at the Church of England parish has taken down the crucifix outside the church as it is a too-graphic depiction of pain and suffering. As Damian explains patiently, the Crucifixion involved nailing a man to a piece of wood......


Crucifix depicts pain and suffering, says vicar. So he takes it down.

The vicar of St John's Church, Horsham, has taken down a crucifix from the front of his church because its depiction of pain and suffering was too vivid. The Rev Ewen Souter was worried that the sculpture (which had been on the building for 45 years) might detract from the parish's "welcoming"...

Click on link for blog post. Image on this blog is NOT the crucifix at St. John's.