Famous 'Virgin Mary' image vandalized

It appears someone has defaced an internationally known religious landmark.

The top three panels of the nine-panel window were broken at the Clearwater building with the Virgin Mary image. It's believed it happened sometime between 9 p.m. Sunday and 7 a.m. Monday.

http://www.baynews9.com/site/content/34832.html

Against a window? Lunacy!

I just helped clean a Black church that was vandalized. I'd say it was a hate crime.



The hymn they sang during a hastily called worship service summed up the mood around Mount Moriah Baptist Church Saturday morning.

The pastor and three members of Mount Moriah and about a dozen volunteers, mostly members of Blacksburg Presbyterian Church and Virginia Tech's Cooper House Presbyterian Center, belted out "Amazing Grace" and then sat out for two hours of cleaning: sweeping, mopping, washing windows, scrubbing toilets and sinks, wiping off pews and chairs and replacing light bulbs.

By the time they finished, three cans and boxes of trash were sitting outside the door of the historic Mount Moriah. The church had a fresh-air smell, and the sun glared through windows that were recently replaced. A previously sagging screen door fit snug; the wooden music holder on the piano was glued and secured with twine. The dust-covered floor was now spick-and-span .

Mount Moriah's three active members were saying how amazing the volunteers, who only days before had been strangers, were. It was another show of the support the church has received since mid-January.

It's been six weeks since Mount Moriah members discovered their house of worship in the 3500 block of Orange Avenue Northeast in Roanoke had been ransacked, causing about $50,000 in damage. Windows and bathroom mirrors were broken, historic marker was ripped off the door and a bathroom sink was yanked from the wall.

Lanterns like those that slaves carried in the mid-1850s - when they crept out after dark to read the Bible by candlelight - were severely damaged.

Roanoke police have charged two men in connection with the vandalism, which also is being investigated as a hate crime.


http://www.roanoke.com/roatimes/news/story163424.html

the difference between the two opposing views? Religion tells those who follow it to 'be good'. Christianity tells those who follow Christ to 'do good'. Your story reveals the after affects of the one lie and the one truth.

spraypainting a swastika on a synagogue would not be a hate crime, since one cannot commit a hate cime against a building.

Seriously. Did the rock have a swastika on it? Was it a 'black church?

edit: BTW I made my comment and was done with it. But I have a pet peeve with people taking a brief statement out of context. If he says A and I think B is like A....

then you might consider posting something other than a one-liner, even one with lots of extra punctuation marks.

After all, since the rest of us here cannot know your inmost thoughts, we can only go by what you post. And what you posted could most reasonably be interpreted as a statement that vandalism cannot be a hate crime.

As for the act in question, no, the building is not a black church, but it is owned by a religious organization, and the windows were apparently broken with ball bearings, not a rock. But then, I know those things because I took the time to click the link and read the article before commenting on it.

I know many fundie types that hate catholics and how they worship the Virgin Mary, seeing it as a form of idolatry.
These types are also not fond of women in general, and like to keep them barefoot, pregnant and in the kitchen.

There are a lot of people (find them here at DU every hour of every day) who just loath the idea of a God and seem extremely intolerant of the Christian faith.

Really. Give me a break. (No pun intended)

everyone here has nothing but respect for the beliefs of others </sacrasm off>

...against churches. Oh and by the way...

but I have seen at least one post saying 'the only good fundie is a dead fundie'..which can of course be dismissed as hyperbole when said against a disliked group...and if you truly think everyone at DU repsects the beliefs of others you are sadly deluded....nice pics though

Then again, idiots say stupid things all the time and have their messages deleted by moderators.

About the many posts that can be categorized as "unfriendly towards religion", I can't see how any of them can be more offensive than "If you don't follow my religion you're going to Hell", which is the standard treatment fundamentalists of all religions subject nonbelievers (or believers who believe differently).

A general feeling of animosity on the part of nonbelievers is, IMHO, understandable.

Or, was that inside-baseball Christian bashing?

It hardly leaves time for holding our black masses.

LOL!

It's shameful. Alot of the threads I read here concerning Christianity would never be posted about other religions.

I drive by the building every day and a saw when the "miracle" was created. It happened one night when someone backed over a sprinkler head. The water sprayed up on to the glass and stained the bronze tint to make the image. The fundies then moved in to the parking lot and made it impossible for the tenants to conduct business. Eventually the building was sold to a religious group that made it into a church.

I think that GOD did it! All it takes is a little hale or strong winds to knock out some poorly maintained glass. How many time have you heard of glass panels falling out of tall buildings in Chicago?

Just ignore this idiodic story, it was a fraud to begin with!! All it takes is a littel oil and solvent on a rag to create such a crappy shap of the maddona anyway.

http://www.iseejesus.com/main.html

these clowns don't help Christians one bit.

than a hate crime.

...evangelical whackos who read these Chick tracts too many times.

Then a case could be made for it being a hate crime.

Is it me or is Mary getting more androgynous than ever?

Why did you remove it?

There's enough body that it could have been kinky, just long

:)

It is unknown whether the image of Christ was folded, and filled with tasty beef, or lie flat, and covered with beans to be eaten as a tostada.


AP file photo

mother of God take the spotlight from Jaysus. As far as I'm concerned it's another hate crime agains women.