Removing Drake name promotes intolerance

The campaign to erase Sir Francis Drake from our community is traced back to a June guest editorial in the New York Times that called the Prayerbook Cross (aka the Drake Cross) a symbol of White supremacy. I believe that claim is offensive to the Christian and Jewish faith communities.

The cross, erected in 1894 at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, was built for the California Midwinter International Exposition (aka the world’s fair). It commemorates the first Christian prayer and worship service on the West Coast of the U.S. It was held during Drake’s five-week visit to Marin in 1579.

In the hasty, misguided attempt to declare anti-racism, some people are inadvertently promoting religious intolerance. According to historical reports, Drake grew up under the guidance of his father, Edmund, an Anglican deacon. Francis was a devout Christian reading his Bible sometimes several hours a day. Religious services were held at mealtime on his ship, the Golden Hind.

The final stanza of Drake’s prayer blessing, which he wrote and delivered to his crew in 1577 prior to their departure from England for a voyage of circumnavigation that brought them to Marin in June 1579, included the words “In strength, courage, hope and love we ask in the name of our captain, Jesus Christ.”

The efforts to purge Drake’s history from Marin County are to persecute the faith community and make hollow our own history.