Funny how they don’t mention the “K-word” once in this article.
Moral of story, if you are a “sanctuary” city then your sanctuaries will have to keep their doors locked.
Crime from the Katrina refugees?
Houston has been lucky then if they are just NOW locking their doors. There are a LOT of churches around the country that have been doing that for years.
But at other times in the week, doors may be locked tight, windows latched and grounds and hallways patrolled by burly uniformed guards.
Nothing new here.
Churches have long locked their buildings when not in use.
Unfortunately, thieves have figures out there are valuable to be had at churches. And most churches don’t mark their property. Have you ever been passed a really nice collection plate with a “property of” tag on it? Of course not, which is why churches are such easy marks for thieves. Churches would rather just replace stolen things like sound system components and other valuables, than go through the hassle of trying to recover stolen items
IMHO...ripping off a church is one of the most immoral things a person could do!
It’s not only Houston.
Last winter, a couple of youthful thugs entered the Buddhist temple where my wife attends, beat up the 2 monks that live there and robbed them of all their money. This was in Buffalo, NY; and it wasn’t the first time.
Now the temple locks their doors and the congregation only gets let in by ringing the door bell and being individually let in by one of the monks.
And, of course, the “reporter” had to reveal his agenda, which is to slam the churches for protecting themselves, rather than those who are victimizing the churches:
“Given tight security at the churches, a question arises: Could Christ gain entry, especially if he sported the long hair and beard with which he’s often depicted?”
Which reminds me of a great old episode of Dragnet, the TV show. (Paraphrased from aging memory)
In the show there was a theft at a church on Christmas Eve. Detectives Friday and Gannon go to speak to the priest. The priest tells them the he had presided over midnight Mass the night before (Christmas Eve), and then he returned to the rectory. When he returned to the church the next morning he found that the baby Jesus was taken from the church’s Nativity display.
Friday asks how the burglars gained entry.
The priest explains that the doors to the church are never locked.
Friday says “You never lock the doors? Even to thieves?”
The priest says “ESPECIALLY TO THIEVES!”