Posted on 12/19/2006 8:49:11 PM PST by lightman
'Not a pretty sight' A Virgin Mary statue was found hanging at Stewartstown Presbyterian Church. By BRENT BURKEY Daily Record/Sunday News Article Launched: 12/19/2006 06:04:14 AM
rd/Sunday News Article Launched: 12/19/2006 06:04:14 AM EST
Dec 19, 2006 — Lori Adams went to work early Monday morning and didn't notice anything out of the ordinary.
But someone else did and told the church secretary that a Virgin Mary lawn ornament was hanging by the neck in the parking lot of Stewartstown Presbyterian Church.
"It was not a pretty sight when I came into work this morning," said Adams, who added that vandalism had not struck the church in about a year. She called the display that was placed overnight Sunday into Monday "sick."
According to the church and local police, the nearly 2½-foot-tall Virgin Mary figurine was bound by the neck with a rope and tied to a light post hanging from the southeast corner of the church building on College Avenue in Stewartstown.
Someone must have climbed onto the church's roof to commit the crime that the Rev. Bob LaForce called "pretty sick."
A motive for the crime is unknown.
Stewartstown Police Chief George Cunningham said the department wants to talk with whoever might have had a lawn ornament depicting the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus stolen recently.
Any other help would also be appreciated, Cunningham said.
The hanging was the first case of vandalism at the church since LaForce became pastor less than a year ago.
Adams said a few months prior to his appointment, someone had bent handicapped parking signs and shot out a few windows.
"Blasphemous," LaForce said.
IF YOU HAVE INFORMATION
Stewartstown Police are asking anyone with information about a Virgin Mary lawn ornament that was stolen in the past few days or about the hanging of the ornament at Stewartstown Presbyterian Church Sunday into Monday to contact the department at 717-993-5308.
"The hanging was the first case of vandalism at the church since LaForce became pastor less than a year ago."
If it's a Christian emblem, it's vandalism. If it's any other religion it's a hate crime.
Blasphemy ping.
Signs of the times ping...
Diabolical.
Diabolical.
In a way this is chickens coming home to roost so to speak. The Presbyterians did so much to encourage iconoclasm in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Sadly, a lot of people have lost any sense of history when it comes to various churches and denominations.
Probably goofy teens.
Very true.
Learned well from the Catholics.
Excellent point. Hopefully, this was just a couple of misguided liberal kids and not some crazy liberal adult.
You make me laugh!!!!!
Like Checkof from Star Trek who said everything good was a Russian invention, to you, everything bad is a Catholic invention!
Merry Christmas, fellow Christian!
dreadful headline, dreadful story; the gore-and-bloodlust factor seems to be at play in the journalism. Probably it'll win a pulitzer because it has all the elements of a ratings-maker.
yawn.
Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee. Blessed art Thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of Thy womb, Jesus. Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us now and at the hour of our death, Amen.
Hail, Holy Queen!
Blasphemy ping.
How so? This is not an image representing anything divine.
The idiot who did this probably just picked the first church he came across not knowing if it was Catholic, Presbyterian or Methodist. Sooner or later this retard will trespass on the wrong lawn in his quest for statues to steal, and he'll be praying to Mary for healing.
And so it begins.
Quite right. The correct term for this sort of thing is "sacrilege" ... Had they hanged, say, a "Sacred Heart" statue then a charge of blasphemy might be appropriate.
>>The idiot who did this probably just picked the first church he came across not knowing if it was Catholic, Presbyterian or Methodist.
Exactly.
And the people at the church had the good taste to be appalled by it.
God Bless this church and all it's congregation.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.