Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Wren Cross Compromise, A Readily Invisible Place

After months of debate in the hallowed bureacracy of William and Mary and cross words in the blogosphere and Virginia's regional newspapers, the two-foot Wren Chapel cross finally has a permanent, somewhat visible place of display.

You can find the Cross sealed in a glass box sitting in a shadow-swaddled corner. Well, not really. It's not clear when we will ever see this cross again.

The decision by President Nichol's hand-picked Committee on Religion in a Public University to return the cross to the chapel, albiet in an extremely subdued position, came about March 6. I honestly thought victory was at hand until I heard about the method of display and placement. And even this half baked proposal remained unfulfilled until this week when Nichol's propaganda machine, I mean Committee on Religion in a Public University, finally issued its edict about where the cross would go. For the last few weeks, the newspapers had raised suspicious questions as to the whereabouts of the little cross. The reason for the delay, said the PR works, was the controversial issue of cross placement. Now the delay is how to build a rectangular box in which to trap the cross's death rays.

It is amazing how such a small item can scare grown men.