This one's too good to miss. Concerned Christians Canada has complained to the Calgary Zoo that a statue of a dancing elephant in front of the Asian elephant compound was showing "selective religious partiality," and should be removed. The statue is apparently modeled after the Hindu god Ganesh.The zoo, however, says the statue contains no religious symbols and simply illustrates the connection between Asian culture and elephants. The statue is a popular background for picture-taking. Angie Thomshaw, visiting the zoo with her children, commented, "We like it. We think it's cute. And I'm Christian."
A spokesman for Concerned Christians Canada insists the Zoo should not be "a place of religious expression," but in fact it is. It features carols and a light display at Christmas, as well as events at Easter. Apparently, there have been no complaints from Hindus.
So dance on, Ganesh.
The world needs more Christmas Elephants, and whiners need to engage themselves in something worthwhile.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, the statue has been up for over two years without any complaint.
ReplyDeleteIf the Zoo can host "Zoo Lights" - an event explicitly catered to the Christmas holidays - then this statue is surely acceptable.
Concerned Christians Canada should call themselves Cornered Christians Canada by the way they're overreacting.
This blog post shows some interesting connections of those who protest the statue.
ReplyDelete