People on the left have come up with excuses for mobs tearing down or otherwise defacing all manner of statues. The Confederate generals were easy enough for them. Things got a bit more complicated when they began talking about Columbus, but they still managed. Some even found a way to justify going after monuments to the Founding Fathers. Apparently there is no line that can’t be crossed.
Or perhaps there is? Here’s a case that will put that issue to the test. When Father John Currie of Saint Peter’s Parish in Dorchester, Massachusetts arrived at his church this Sunday morning, he found a horrifying sight awaiting him. The statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary in front of the church’s property had been set on fire at some point on Saturday night. (Picture) And while he was quickly ready to forgive the arsonists, as any man of the cloth would be expected to do, he still wasn’t able to hide his disappointment in some members of his community. (CBS Boston)
Police are investigating after a Blessed Virgin Mary statue was set on fire outside of a Dorchester church. Police were called to the Saint Peter’s Parish church on Bowdoin Street around 10 p.m. Saturday night.
“This is obviously someone disturbed, someone who has a lot of trouble, a troubled soul,” said Father John Currie, the pastor of Saint Peter’s Parish. He said the plastic flowers the statue was holding on were set on fire.
The arms, hands, and face of the statue have burn marks.
“Sadness. Disappointment. Our image of our lady is so important to us in our faith,” he said.
If you were expecting Father Currie to go in for the old “eye for an eye” response you’ll be sadly disappointed. His full response was, “The message is of love, and peace, and mercy, and forgiveness. Again, this person may be troubled and we don’t want to add to trouble in the world or your life. We want to be an instrument of healing for your reconciliation.”
Some of the other locals were interviewed about the attack, offering responses that weren’t quite so clear. One man, Vincent Watty, was quoted as saying, “I don’t know what is going on, only God knows. I hope that something good comes of all of this.”
Perhaps I’ve grown a bit too jaded from covering politics for all of these years, but what “good” can possibly come from setting a statue of the Virgin Mary on fire? I suppose that Watty might have been taking the high road and hoping that the arsonist is somehow led to redemption. Personally, I’d be satisfied with a conviction and stretch behind bars, but the security cameras on the church’s property don’t cover the statue’s location, so police are still scrambling for leads.
But let’s just get to the serious question that should already be on everyone’s minds. Who in the hell would do this? Are there leftist idiots out there who are so ginned up on the idea of tearing down every statue they see that they can’t even recognize what they’re attacking anymore? Or was this someone who is so opposed to “the religious right” that they now see free expressions of the Christian faith as a sign of oppression that needs to be destroyed?
I’m left just shaking my head. I really thought we’d seen the worst of this when they went after Lincoln, Washington and Jefferson. But if you’re the type to defend something like this then I simply don’t want to know you.
