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FLORIDA NATIVITY THIEF DEMANDS: Display Darwin Fish on Christmas Morning,Get Stolen Baby Jesus Back
Sarasota Herald Tribune ^
| December 27, 2001
| Eric Alan Barton
Posted on 12/27/2001, 10:01:59 PM by umbra
Helen and Ron Meijer found the ransom note Christmas Eve morning in place of the baby Jesus. They said for years they have placed the Nativity scene without incident on their lawn in the gated Deer Creek neighborhood south of Sarasota.
Included in the ranson note was a symbol of evolutionists: an outline of a fish with feet and the word "Darwin" written inside. The letter didn't ask for money but did make a demand the Meijer's said they couldn't meet.
"If you ever want to hear from Jesus again, put this on your car Christmas Eve and park out front," the two-page note read in colorful letters cut out from magazines.
"We did not of course, put the anti-Christ message on our car, said Ron Meijer, 56, a retired Xerox executive.
The couple called the prank an attempt to silence their First Amendment rights.
"They can steal all the plastic dolls they want to, but they can't steal what's in my heart," said Helen Meijer, 53, a frequent volunteer at Gifts from God Outreach Ministries, an Osprey based charity that helps the homeless.
The Meijers called the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office after they discovered the baby Jesus was missing. The ransom note is now the only piece of evidence in Sheriff's office case No. 01-10172, but invesitgators hope to lift the fingerprints from the letter.
Helen Meijer said she spent a sleepless night Christmas Eve, frequently checking her lawn for the doll's return. Her last check around 2 A.M. showed no signs of the newborn, but by next morning the bright-eyed tyke with a bushy head of brown hair was back.
The thief change of mind won't stop the invesitgation unless the Meijers fill out a form dismissing the complaint, said Chuck Lesalto, the Sheriff's Department spokesperson.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: crevolist
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The evolution Taliban strikes again!
1
posted on
12/27/2001, 10:01:59 PM
by
umbra
To: umbra
Perhaps some people did evolve.
To: umbra
I know it was Janet Reno.
3
posted on
12/27/2001, 10:14:57 PM
by
speedy
To: umbra
Display Darwin fish on Judgement Day, Jesus (not the baby this time) will give you your wish and leave you to your just end - hint, it'll be hot, so wear light clothing.
4
posted on
12/27/2001, 10:15:20 PM
by
keithtoo
To: umbra
Ooooh Mr. Darwin.....you monkey man!!
5
posted on
12/27/2001, 10:18:35 PM
by
keithtoo
To: umbra
That is pretty sickening. Just shows where the Darwinian 'theology' leads to.
I wouldn't be suprised if the theif didn't give it back even if they would have displayed the Darwin Fish.
6
posted on
12/27/2001, 10:26:00 PM
by
markn
To: umbra
Not that we needed more evidence that the entire purpose of the "Darwin Fish" is to marginalize and belittle Christians, but this does add to the pile.
To: speedy
Do we have Queen Hillary accounted for on Christmas Eve?
8
posted on
12/27/2001, 10:28:43 PM
by
umbra
To: umbra
Another nut-case secular humanist with unresolved complexes.
To: FormerLib
I can't believe that someone would idolize a guy like Darwin. There is nothing really significant about Darwin's life other than the fact that he gave them a chance to avoid acknowledging the existence of a just God that would judge them some day.
10
posted on
12/27/2001, 10:29:54 PM
by
markn
To: HowlinglyMind-BendingAbsurdity
Maxine Waters or Sheila Jackson-Lee?
11
posted on
12/27/2001, 10:30:20 PM
by
umbra
To: umbra
Oh cripes, why can't these people just drop the chips on their shoulders and leave christians alone......
To: scottiewottie
And that may be the message of the story.
13
posted on
12/27/2001, 10:34:18 PM
by
umbra
To: keithtoo
Hotter than Florida, that's for sure..
14
posted on
12/27/2001, 10:34:41 PM
by
umbra
To: umbra
Have the ACLU, Southern Poverty Law Center, and People for the American Way sent representatives to investigate this as a "hate crime" yet?
To: umbra
LOL, good one. But I think they were probably busy with Mrs. Berry from the civil rights commision trying to figure out how they can make Mrs. Berry's wish of no civil rights for white men come true.
To: LarryLied
I really like Florida --- wish I could live there. You think you're getting too many CA transplants?
17
posted on
12/27/2001, 10:53:47 PM
by
onyx
To: umbra; crevo_list
Let's see... Dec. 24 in the AM, Mrs. Meijer finds the byb Jesus doll gone & the ransom note. Presumably she calls the police later that day. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning on Dec. 25, the thieves return the baby Jesus doll, even though she didn't follow the instructions. The article didn't come out until the 27th, and she hasn't filed charges yet, so it doesn't look like the case had hit the news until after the Jesus doll had been put back in its place.
My guess is, it's a practical joke (in very bad taste) by a teenager whose sense of judgement hasn't developed yet, & who "thought it'd be a funny joke at the time".
BTW, why do they call them "practical jokes" in the first place? I've always thought practical jokes were the worst kind - the most likely to blow up in your face & most likely to be taken badly by the victim.
18
posted on
12/27/2001, 11:22:37 PM
by
jennyp
To: jennyp
This one is just too goofy. But it's worth a bump.
To: umbra
How stupid can these people be ?
Burning the note and replacing the plastic doll would have not given the theives the publcity they desire..( unless we have a deeper plot for publicity here... )
Can you say .. A plastic doll is a "graven image"... ?
20
posted on
12/27/2001, 11:29:09 PM
by
RS
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