In the wake of the rising voices calling White Jesus as a symbol of white supremacy, the Archbishop of Canterbury has said the Anglican church should reconsider the way statues and other representations portray Jesus as white. The Church of England will review the statues and monuments to determine whether they have links to slavery, said Justin Welby, who heads the Anglican Church.
Amid the backdrop of violent Black Lives Matter protests, many protesters have torn down and vandalized historical monuments and statues. The violent protests erupted after the death of 46-year-old black man George Floyd in Minneapolis on Memorial Day.
Welby Says West Needs to Review 'White Jesus'
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today, the Archbishop of Canterbury said that the Church of England will very carefully review statues at major places of worship to see if they all should be there. The monuments at Canterbury Cathedral and Westminster Abbey would be included, reported the Washington Examiner.
Stating that some of the statues will have to come down and some names will have to change, Welby said that they are going to look very carefully and put them in context to see if they all should be there.
A few days ago, Real Justice PAC co-founder Shaun King created an uproar after he called for the removal of images of white Jesus, terming them as tools of oppression.
The head of the Church of England said the West in general needed to question the prevailing mindset that depicted Christ as a white man in traditional Christian imagery, reported The Guardian.
Addressing the controversy surrounding the 'white Jesus, Welby said that depictions typically correspond with those of the worshipers. "You go into their churches, and you don't see a white Jesus. You see a black Jesus, or a Chinese Jesus, or a Middle Eastern Jesus — which of course is the most accurate — or a Fijian Jesus," he said.
Enraged Twitter Slams Welby
The statement made by the Archbishop of Canterbury did not go well with the netizens who slammed him on the social networking sites demanding his removal.
"Extraordinary hearing @JustinWelby on @BBCr4today comparing taking statues down at Canterbury to removing statues outside KGB in Russia & sympathy for getting rid of white Jesuses. With feeble leadership like this does @churchofengland have a future? Drop Bishops from H of Lords?" tweeted David C Bannerman.
"You are a woke joke! A rot penetrating from inside," wrote another user.
"The archbishop of canterbury, Justin Welby, is a usurper and a fake Christian who's only motive is power and money. Remove his title. Bring Christianity back to the people. Our Christian statues must be protected in these dark times of sin," tweeted another user on the micro blogging site.
