[Magdalen] Whoops. We've got the Southern slavers' battle flag in the National Cathedral.

Grace Cangialosi gracecan at gmail.com
Wed Jul 1 19:42:45 UTC 2015


Jim, when I first heard the name of the Robert E. Lee Memorial Chapel, I told someone I thought we named our churches after saints.
His reply: "You're in Virginia now...they did!"

On July 1, 2015, at 9:44 AM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:

There are two church buildings within an easy walk of one another.

The Chapel (where Lee's beautiful sarcophagus is the substitute for the
altar [I'm not making this up, you know!!], and the Lee family crypt is
located) is on the grounds of the college, and there's the actual Episcopal
Church, which is the Robert E. Lee Memorial Episcopal Church. It sits
immediately adjacent to the college.  I sang in the choir there. Among
other things, the choir did Schuetz's The Seven Last Words, and Gibbons'
This is the Record of John. It made a big impression on me, and I've been a
fan of early music ever since.  (Bach was, as we all know, a
Johanny-come-lately.)
The choir director was one Colonel Roth. As a member of the faculty of
Virginia Military Institute, he was commissioned an office in the Virginia
militia. I always got a kick out of that.
http://www.vmi.edu/Content.aspx?id=10737430512

The college was, for me, an epic disaster I would not wish on anyone. I did
not, and do not still, get along well with snobs and prep school kids. The
R E Lee Church, on the other hand, exposed me to some amazing music.

James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
*“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy

On Wed, Jul 1, 2015 at 8:05 AM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com> wrote:

> Yes, and that church in Lexington is referred to by the locals as "St.
> Bobby's"!
>
> > On Jun 30, 2015, at 10:43 PM, James Oppenheimer-Crawford <
> oppenheimerjw at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > He has a very nice sarcophagus in his chapel in Lexington (VA), and the
> > whole family is interred there.  When I was there (worst mistake I ever
> > made) A direct descendant (also a Bob Lee) was in my class.
> >
> > James W. Oppenheimer-Crawford
> > *“A life is like a garden. Perfect moments can be had, but not preserved,
> > except in memory. LLAP**”  -- *Leonard Nimoy
> >
> > On Tue, Jun 30, 2015 at 9:13 PM, Grace Cangialosi <gracecan at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> >> I didn't know Lee was ever in Brooklyn!
> >>
> >>>> On Jun 30, 2015, at 6:08 PM, "Jim Guthrie" <jguthrie at pipeline.com>
> >>> wrote:
> >>>
> >>>
> >>> From: Jon Egger
> >>>
> >>>> Things (and this thread) remind me of the "fighting bishop" (Leonidas
> >>>> Polk?) who is memorialized at our seminary at Sewanee.  Do we remove
> him
> >>>> from the seminary?  Do we simply forget him?
> >>>
> >>> No -- but at the same time the interpretive information has to relate
> >> the consequences, for, say, persons of color. Not to mention the poor
> >> Whites who fought in order to keep their marginal economic existence at
> >> least slightly higher than Black people.
> >>>
> >>>> We can't erase our past.  Things happen.  Horrible things sometime.
> >>>
> >>> But we do erase our past when it conflicts with, say, the White
> >> Narrative -- as I;
> >>> 've pointed out in both the TEC "Reconciliation" and the national
> >> political "Reconciliation."
> >>>
> >>> Neither represented any reconciliation with either freemen or former
> >> slaves, for example -- they only represent "feel good" stuff for the
> White
> >> Majority ever since. In short -- that post Civil Ware "Reconciliation"
> is
> >> White Privilege fraud.
> >>>
> >>> As for purging -- well, the story of St John's Fort Hamilton may be of
> >> interest -- "The Church of the Generals." As the size of the
> congregation
> >> dwindled, and as they survived in large measure through a "management
> fee"
> >> for a city-funded feeding program, they were sure they could continue
> their
> >> course as a private club because "This is the Historic Church of the
> >> Generals -- most famous of which was Gen. Robert E. Lee."
> >>>
> >>> In the end after the city withdrew from the program, when they couldn't
> >> afford the electric bill anymore, the Diocese of Long Island closed it
> >> (merging with my own parish, Christ Church Bay Ridge).
> >>>
> >>> None of that "heritage" baloney could save them. The diocese did not
> >> have the cash to subsidize their private club and the memory of Robert E
> >> Lee's time in Brooklyn.
> >>>
> >>> Cheers,
> >>> Jim Guthrie
> >>
>


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