Catching up: A fuss about a lump of rock

by Feòrag

Okay, I've been slacking, but my faithful correspondents have not. First up is tjc, who sent me a succinct message with a tasty link:

It seems that a cursing stone in Carlisle is responsible for foot and mouth as well as the local football team being totally crap. Now a local councillor (Also a god-botherer, what a surprise) wants it removed.

Five years ago, as part of a millenium project, a monument was erected in Carlisle which featured a 1069-word rant against the Reivers, first proclaimed by Archbishop of Glasgow, Gavin Dunbar, in 1525. Now a LibDem councillor has demanded the demolition of the monument. His reasoning is a little odd given that the 'curse' being the work of an Archbishop, and framed in Biblical terms:

Many groups and individuals warned the council that placing a non-Christian artefact based on an old curse on local families would bring ill luck on the city. This has seemed to be correct. I therefore urge the council to support this motion to remove the stone, the physical embodiment of the curse upon families in the West March.

The Bishop of Carlisle , the Rt Rev Graham Dow, has asked the present Archbishop of Glasgow to perform a magic spell lift the 'curse'. Dow is an interesting character - according to a 2003 article dug up by Richard Bartholemhew:

Bishop Dow has hit the headlines on several occasions this year after joining the row over homosexuality within the Church of England and after it was revealed he believes evil spirits can be introduced into the world through miscarriages, abortions, oral and anal sex.

In 1990 Bishop Dow, a close friend on the Prime Minister Tony Blair, wrote a booklet, Explaining Deliverance, in which his views on evil spirits were revealed. He said the spirits could also cause untreatable diseases.

He also wrote that people who repeatedly wear black or always purchase a black car may be possessed by evil spirits. He says clear signs of evil spirits at work are sexual lust and deviant sexual practice.

He is also connected with organisations which promoted the satanic ritual abuse myth. He's not the only loony fundie who's waded in this particular quagmire. Leslie Irving, editor of the rather kinkily titled Christian magazine, Bound Together, warned journalists that the (entirely Christian, remember) stone could become the focus of satanic rituals.

There are some sensible people in Carlisle, though. Lee Northern was inspired to write a letter to the editor of the News and Star:

I feel I must respond to the barrage of nonsense written about Carlisle's Cursing Stone.

To read many of the News & Star letters you would think that Cumbria was in a time warp in which even witchcraft was seriously regarded as a possible cause for Carlisle's recent troubles...

...Surely it is ridiculous to suggest that the stone could be cursing Carlisle? I wonder what impression people in others parts of the UK must have of Cumbria thanks to the publicity that blaming the stone has brought to our county.

It's hard to lift a 7.5 tonne curse - The Herald, 2nd March 2005; It's ridiculous to blame stone - News and Star, 8th March 2005; Dow-Curse Index - Bartholomew's notes on religion, 8th March 2005; Love Thy Brother - News and Star, 6th December 2003.