By BI: A concert including the Islamic Call to Prayer has been turned away from Nelson’s cathedral after its Dean, Nick Kirk  said it “was anti- Christian.” The decision has disappointed Nelson Civic Choir, particularly as the concert was about promoting religious ‘tolerance.’ (That’s the problem – Muslims are NOT tolerant and are openly hostile to any religion but their own)

Dean of the cathedral, Nick Kirk

STUFF.Co  Nelson Civic Choir president Wim Oosterhoff felt the Christ Church Cathedral dean’s decision to not host a performance of The Armed Man was “ironic”, and showed religious intolerance.

Christ Church Cathedral in Nelson

The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace is a contemporary anti-war composition, dedicated to victims of the Kosovo crisis and is based on the Catholic Mass, and includes texts from other religious and historical sources, including the call to prayer, the Bible and the ancient Sanskrit Mahabharata as well as secular writers including Rudyard Kipling.

“It’s not just a concert, it’s a total experience,” Oosterhoff said.

Dean of the cathedral, Nick Kirk said he had refused the choir’s request to perform The Armed Man because it did not fit with the cathedral’s “religious beliefs”. “The Islamic call to prayer is not Christian.” He said the piece did not reflect the cathedral’s values under his leadership. When queried on why the performance was allowed in 2007, Kirk said “I’m a different dean.”

Kirk said he had already received complaints about the decision, but he was not worried about his stance. “I think we have to stand up for what is true.” (Good for him!)

“The call to prayer is only to Muslims. Obviously Islam, like Christianity, thinks it’s the only way but Islam at its best is a very intolerant religion.”