A view from post-Christian England:

An unholy row has flared after a cathedral’s decision to screen films which include a graphic sex scene, full female nudity and a Pagan sacrifice.

Some church-goers believe that showing cult horror movie The Wicker Man and the thriller Don’t Look Now at Derby Cathedral is inappropriate.

Wardens from other churches have called for the screenings to be scrapped.

However, the Cathedral’s Dean said the building was ‘for everybody’ and it needed to serve a wide range of people in the city, BBC Radio Derby reports.

The Dean, the Very Reverend Dr Stephen Hance, said: ‘The first thing we’re trying to do is open the cathedral to new people.

‘It doesn’t just belong to the people who go to church; it certainly doesn’t belong to me; it doesn’t just belong to religious people.

‘This is Derby’s cathedral and it needs to serve the needs of the people of Derby, as wide a range of the people of Derby as we possibly can.’

More:

Kristin Simmons, a deputy warden from another church, said: ‘Derby Cathedral is a reflection of every parish church in Derbyshire.

‘Of course the cathedral can and should be open and used for outside events, but they should not be adverse to the Christian perspective; the

cathedral is primarily a place of worship.

‘One film depicts a human sacrifice of a Christian man who recites Psalm 23 and ‘curses’ people upon his death, and in the other, the protagonist is

employed to restore a church building; it involves séances and communication with the dead and a very explicit sex scene.

‘As someone else pointed out to me, Holy Communion will be celebrated nine hours later in the same seats.’

Read the whole thing. 

Notice that this sacrilege is not being forced on the church by the state. It is being welcomed by the cathedral’s leadership, which apparently has ceased to believe in God, or at least to fear Him.