Would you be upset if this happened to your local church?
By recycledgoth
@recycledgoth (9894)
September 18, 2007 7:33am CST
Not far from my home is an ancient site, the Rollright Stones, in Oxford. For centuries the stones have stood, serene and undisturbed in the countryside. A much loved circle, the Rollright Stones have seen many handfastings and other ceremonies, been a place of tranquility and quiet and a wonderful place to sit and contemplate. A couple of years ago my partner and I attended a wonderful handfasting at the Stones, where we met with the warden on site.
But the Stones have been the constant target for vandalism and arson. In the past few years the visitor centre has been burnt to the ground, the stones painted with yellow paint, the surrounding trees damaged and burnt, the centre robbed, the stones broken and damaged, and now this latest attack.
The local police believe this to be the work of*a middle aged man with a grudge against the circle* although other sources seem to think that a local fundamentalist group might also be behind the attacks.
I would ask people here, this question. Would you be upset if this happened to your local church? I hope you can understand why my partner and I together with our friends are very upset at the moment.
http://www.oxfordmail.net/search/display.var.1678473.0.0.php
3 people like this
6 responses
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
21 Sep 07
I would be livid.Besides being a religious site, it is a historical site too.It is just a sign of the lack of respect some people have for historic areas. now it sounds like you have to guard the site like we guard The Washington Monument here in the States.That is just a shame.
1 person likes this
@recycledgoth (9894)
•
21 Sep 07
What makes me so upset is the fact that the Stones are in the heart of the countryside, surrounded by some lovely scenery and an ancient place. Yet these people make a determined effort to go out there simply to commit such acts.
1 person likes this
@sarahruthbeth22 (43143)
• United States
21 Sep 07
It seems like some people who can't create anything, enjoy destroying things.
1 person likes this
@recycledgoth (9894)
•
22 Sep 07
A friend of mine has just emailed me some pictures of the mess, it's heartbreaking to see the damage.
1 person likes this
@MsTickle (25180)
• Australia
19 Sep 07
It sounds like another act of vandalism but more than that intolerance. The world is really becoming worse.
When will people wake up and see that nothing but bad is achieved by these sorts of actions.
I guess some will never take responsibility for making situations worse than they need to be.
1 person likes this
@recycledgoth (9894)
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20 Sep 07
I spoke to a friend who lives close to the Stones last night. She told me that the locals are aware of a group of fundamentalists who have attacked the Stones before. The Stones are out in open countryside but you need to know where they are in order to find them, seems a long way and a lot of effort to go to just for mindless vandalism I guess.
Whoever is ultimately responsible should be made to pay the penalty, there is no excuse for vandalism in any form, and you are right, these people will never take responsibility for their actions.
@nancyrowina (3850)
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18 Sep 07
I've heard of the Rollright stones and it's terrible to hear this is happening. I am a pagan so stone circles have special meaning for me, I've never visited the Rollright stones and would like to in the future, let's help they do install CCTV and catch these vandals. English heritage should be involved too and do more to protect and preserve the stone circles of England.
1 person likes this
@recycledgoth (9894)
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18 Sep 07
Thank you for your words, we are all quite upset here. My partner and I will be driving down to the Stones at the weekend to see if we can help clean them up a little and clear up some of the damage.
@ElicBxn (64177)
• United States
18 Sep 07
Absolutely. Even if it wasn't considered a relgious site by some, it is an archological site! They ought to be brought up on vandalizing a national treasure!
But don't think its just non-Christian sites that get attacked. A small (300+ member) local, Baptist church was arsoned in my city. And it wasn't even one of these white on black attacks, this was a dominately white church.
There are some seriously sick people out there!
1 person likes this
@recycledgoth (9894)
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18 Sep 07
You are right hun, some seriously sick people around these days. It almost seems an every day occurence these days.
@mummymo (23706)
•
18 Sep 07
Oh Sweet wouldn't anyone? No wonder you are all so upseet - what a disgusting thing to do! I mean any vandalism attack is bad enough but swatikas! I do hope they catch the person responsible and they are punished! I fo think it is awful that people can rey and destroy things that matter to others and to history - please God that the stones will now be left unharmed! xxxx
1 person likes this
@recycledgoth (9894)
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18 Sep 07
Thank you for your kind words hun, I really hope that whoever the culprit is, they catch him soon. The damage that has been done over the past few years has cost an enormous amount of money to put right and my partner and I were involved in running some rock gigs to benefit the Stones.
@scarywhitegirl (2766)
• United States
18 Sep 07
It is unfortunate that there are some people in the world who would claim that this is not a religious site. I believe, like you do, that it is a religious site, and the vandalism should be responded to similarly to if it had been a "mainstream" religious site.
I don't attend church, but there are places that I consider to be spiritually important, and I would be equally upset by vandalism to those sites.
@recycledgoth (9894)
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18 Sep 07
Thanks hun, I value your opinion. There are some really sick people in this world, and I can't understand exactly what they hope to gain by acting like this.
