Friday, April 17, 2009

White house asks Georgetown University to cover up Jesus

Will the White House make a similar request if Obama were to visit a mosque? Washington Times

When President Obama gave his economics speech at Georgetown University on Tuesday, several folks noticed something was missing.

That "something" was an ancient monogram -- the letters IHS -- that symbolizes the name of Jesus. It was missing from a wooden archway above the dais in Gaston Hall where the president delivered his 45-minute speech.[...]

I contacted the university this morning to ask why the monogram -- in this post-Easter season -- was hidden as its absence had been noted by several bloggers, including Dawn Eden -- formerly of the New York Post -- on her dawn patrol blog.

Julie Bataille from the university's press office e-mailed me that the White House had asked that all university signage and symbols behind the stage in Gaston Hall be covered.

"The White House wanted a simple backdrop of flags and pipe and drape for the speech, consistent with what they've done for other policy speeches," she wrote. "Frankly, the pipe and drape wasn't high enough by itself to fully cover the IHS and cross above the GU seal and it seemed most respectful to have them covered so as not to be seen out of context."

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