Geneva Still Standing Tall

While many protestants are falling all over themselves to show how accomodating they are in the wake of the death of Pope John Paul II (e.g. Doug Wilson giving his condolenses to Roman Catholics during a worship service, President Bush attending Mass in honor of the deceased Pope), it is refreshing to hear that the city of Geneva will not capitulate to the current, universal love-fest, by lowering their flag to half-mast in respect for the Pope. The following is the Reuters story:

GENEVA (Reuters) - Geneva, the birthplace of Calvinism, will once again mark its distance from the Vatican and not fly flags at half-mast for the funeral of Pope John Paul.

The city, where John Calvin introduced his austere version of Protestantism in the 16th century, said it would make no exception to a local rule that flags be only lowered for the death of a Swiss citizen.

"There is just no precedent of this sort in Geneva," said head of the local council Martine Brunschwig Graf, referring to calls for Geneva to go along with the rest of Switzerland in a gesture of respect for the Pontiff, who died on Saturday.

Calvin was a major figure in the Protestant Reformation and under his influence Geneva renounced papal authority, abolished mass and closed down monasteries in 1536.

Hopefully the day will dawn soon when Protestants will not be afraid to stand tall in the face of ecumincal peer-pressure and Geneva's example will once again influence the nations.