'Vandals have hacked at the heart of Christianity'

Daily Mail ^ | Dec 9th, 2010

[TaraP]

2,000-year-old Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury is cut down

Vandals have destroyed one of the most celebrated Christian pilgrimage sites in Britain and chopped down a tree said to have sprouted from the staff of Joseph of Arimathea 2,000 years ago.

The Holy Thorn Tree of Glastonbury, Somerset, is visited by thousands every year to pay homage and leave tokens of worship. Those visiting today were moved to tears on finding the tree cut to a stump.

The sacred tree is unique in that it blossoms twice a year - at Christmas and Easter - and sprigs taken from the thorn are sent to The Queen each year for the festive table.

[FateAmenableToChange]

What a loser . .wonder what he would call this?

Topiary.

[GourmetDan]

Good point.

Some people just can’t stand to read anything that threatens their paradigm.

Carry on... :-)

[InvisibleChurch]

Thank you for responding. ; )

[wardaddy]

horrible but what to expect from a Christian nation that turned it’s back on God after he saved them from destruction just 65 years ago

lampost time

[ScottinVA]

I hate islam with a passion, but I’m holding off blaming muslims for this for now until the facts are known. If evidence comes to light proving muslims were behind it, then go after them hard.

[markomalley]

ping

[onedoug]

Worth repeating:

A vanquished people must become used to their sacred things being
handled, fingered, licked and treated with contempt by the conqueror.

[Winniesboy]

There’s not the slightest threat to the health of this tree. On the contrary. It’s clear from the photo that the tree has been, albeit unintentionally, pollarded. This actually prolongs the life of the tree rather than reducing it. Periodic pollarding or coppicing (in which the trunk was cut at ground level) were the traditional methods with which English woodsmen maintained ancient deciduous woodland in good health. Doesn’t work with conifers, but succeeds with most species of temperate deciduous hardwoods.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks markomalley.

"Worldwide Leader in Weird: Prince Charles: Future King of England a Crypto-Muslim?"

[sionnsar]

Sad, but the article notes it has grown back before.

Thanks to markomalley for the ping.

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Speak the truth in love. Eph 4:15

[TASMANIANRED]

Hardly the heart of Christianity but deplorable none the less.

Multiculturalism is grand, isn’t it.

[kalee]

Don’t you mean...if this had been done to something that muslims held in esteem you can bet there would be riots, bombings and beheadings?

[TexasRepublic]

“A relic or artifact merely provides a connection to a long past event.”

I condemn what happened, but....I suspect most religious relics of that purported age are not authentic, especially in Europe. People in the Middle Ages were largely illiterate and gullible. Mark Twain wrote hilariously funny satires about religious relics in a couple of his travel books, “Innocents Abroad” and “A Tramp Abroad”.

Flame suit on.

[The Comedian]

This has "Mohammad was here" written all over it.

Frowning takes 68 muscles.
Smiling takes 6.
Pulling this trigger takes 2.
I'm lazy.

[Ramius]

LOL... Oh, yes I’m sure that many so-called “relics” are just hoaxes played on some unsuspecting traveler perhaps hundreds of years ago. It would be fun to think some of them are the real deal. That you could actually hold a chunk of history in your hand... would be cool.

[AnalogReigns]

Could a tree surgeon do some emergency surgery to fix the tree?

With the branches are all cut off? I doubt it can be saved.

I think the "tragedy" here is way over-rated, because, after all, the Puritans cut down the (supposed) original tree, and this one only dates back to 1951 (read the story). I'm sure there are plenty of clippings and other growths of the original tree out there to regrow a new one, perhaps behind a stout wall or fence....

[mware]

I noticed that they showed a woman getting a clipping of some of the twigs.

I wonder if they could make a graft to start a new tree?

[Quix]

THX THX.

UGLY FER SURE.

[taxesareforever]

I stand corrected.

[fortheDeclaration]

They didn't worship the tree. The tree was, according to legend, planted by Joseph. It's something spiritual. Please avoid the religious strawman arguments.

There is nothing spiritual about a tree and it should have been cut down by Christians as soon as people thought there was!