“It’s not my favourite way of going about it, but we can approach the zoo to see if they are willing to put up, for example, a Noah’s ark or perhaps other artifacts from other faiths.”

Jim Blake Concerned Christians Canada re: Calgary zoo elephant statue

This letter is an official protest on the part of Calgarian Christians to the placement of a hindu “god” statue in the Calgary Zoo, in front of the Elephant Crossing Exhibit. Since the zoo is publicly funded by taxpayer dollars, the zoo is accountable to taxpayers, a segment of whom we represent.  The statue we are referencing is the statue of Ganesh, the Hindu “god” known to Hindus as “Lord of Beginnings and Lord of Obstacles”. You can see a full description of this idol here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganesh.

The zoo is not a place of religious indoctrination, it is supposed to be a safe family environment free of religious icons and selective religious partiality. The displaying of different gods in a public place, like this, is an offence to our beliefs and does not represent the diversity of views that should be reflected, if the zoo is embarking on teaching the public about world religions as they relate to the natural world. If, in fact, the zoo is on a quest to expose people to different religious viewpoints, which I presume atheists would take exception to, the zoo should not be selective and exclusive. Therefor, if this is the intent, I make a proposal that a display be erected including the cross of Jesus Christ, the ten commandments (as seen in the old testament of the Bible – Exodus 20) Noah’s Ark, and a display sharing the Biblical Creation view of nature’s origins which reflects our Christian beliefs and the beliefs of our nations forefathers.

Ganesha has four arms, this statue has two.
The Calgary Zoo  Elephant Crossing
Ganesha depictions