Nativity Scenes Attacked in Hartford, Middlebury and Naugatuck
December 31st, 2007 by Peter
No December on FIC Blog is complete without a mention of the attacks on faith that have unfortunately become such a routine fact of the Christmas season.
The good news is that things appear to be on the upswing. Yes, there was that silly atheist sign in Vernon attempting to link religious faith to the the terrorist attacks of 9/11. But even the editorial page of the Hartford Courant called the group out for its intolerance, as did many folks of all political persuasions.
Speaking of the Courant, its Christmas editions were nothing like the ones I noted last year. The paper seemed to take up our suggestion in last year’s post by running a number of uplifting stories–many focused specifically on Christian faith as a force for good–on and around Christmas Day.
Locally, at least, there was nothing like the stores’ disdain for mentioning Christmas that attracted FIC’s interest in 2005 or the epidemic of creche vandalism that drew FIC Blog’s repeated attention during and after Christmas 2006.
That said, there were a few pathetic incidents that deserve mention. An attack on a church nativity scene in Hartford was covered in the Dec. 21 Courant:
A Nativity scene was destroyed in an act of nighttime vandalism inside the Central Baptist Church on Main Street.
The faces of more than a half-dozen plaster figures, including those of Mary, Joseph and the Three Wise Men, were knocked off. The Baby Jesus was knocked onto the floor, and the manger was destroyed.
The damage was discovered early Thursday morning, said the Rev. John F. Endler, senior minister at the church in Hartford.
“I felt more disturbed than angry because the person who did this, in targeting the faces of the figures, it’s obviously a very, to me, a very focused kind of rage,” Endler said.
The same day the story above appeared in the Courant there was another story in the Republican-American about a nativity scene being vandalized in Middlebury:
Vandals damaged a Nativity scene outside the St. John of the Cross Church late Friday.
A parishioner walking her dog Saturday morning noticed the Plexiglas window frame covering the creche had been smashed, and a ceramic statue of St. Joseph was broken. The statue was repaired at a cost of about $300, and the Plexiglas also was replaced by Monday morning.
The priest dismissed the vandalism as “a random act,” but no culprit or motive has yet been found.
In Naugatuck, a Jesus figurine was stolen and a menorah was demolished:
For the third time in as many years, a baby Jesus figurine in a nativity crèche has been stolen from the town Green in Naugatuck. In 2005 and 2006, someone stole the baby Jesus from a crèche owned by the borough in the center of the Green. This year, someone stole a baby Jesus figurine from a nativity scene on the Green in front of St. Michael’s Episcopal Church, which owns the crèche. The church has filed a report with the Naugatuck Police Department, which is also investigating the demolition of a menorah on the Green that is put up by borough officials.
Police still have not arrested anyone for the attack on the menorah. But police have arrested the person responsible for the theft of the Jesus figurine and offer the public this assurance:
“It was a prank and there was no other motivation behind the theft,” said Lt. Robert Harrison, Naugatuck Police spokesman. He said the teenager confessed to stealing the figurine as a prank.
Finally, a comment was recently posted in an old thread by someone who says her own nativity scene fell victim to a theft.
I note that Christmas came and went without FIC wishing its Christian readers the joy and blessings of the season. In fact, looking in over the past couple of weeks, one would not have had an inkling that we are in the most anticipated and joyous season of our faith. Not a single word about the birth of our Savior.
Chanukah, a celebration of miracles, also passed unremarked.
Now, on the last day of the year, Peter treats us to a negative screed, designed to……… what, exactly?
Let me take this opportunity to wish the readers of the Family Institute blog the peace, joy and promise of this holy season. I hope your year is healthy, happy and filled with light and love of life.
Sigh. Alis’ is the sort of comment I have in mind when I raise concerns about our opponents’ difficulties with reading comprehension. Or perhaps the only way to avoid the “negative screed” accusation is to make no comment on things that actually happened.
And yes, an unusually busy–and, thanks be to God, successful–December for FIC meant that Christmas greetings this year were sent via our e-mail alert and through hundreds of Christmas cards (instead of the blog). But for many of us, it is still the Christmas season and we wish FIC Blog’s readers a blessed one.
Ah Peter. To be branded an “opponent” when you don’t know me? I had hoped to be a friend.
I’m sorry you are offended that I mentioned FIC’s failure to proudly and publically rejoice in the Christmas season, and to wish the blessings of the season to all who pass by. One can’t imagine how it was faster and easier to send Christmas cards and emails rather than place a very simple message on the blog. Nor why Christmas greetings should be extended only to those who are “card carrying” members.
So many joyful and wonderful things happened during this Christmas season, Peter — the celebrations and gifts of joyful charity in the name of the newborn Christ. Families, immediate and extended, coming closer in the message of the baby in the manger. Yet you chose to focus on acts of vandalism as your SOLE Christmas message here on FIC blog. It seems you left the uplifting messages to the Courant. Pardon me, Peter, but how is that NOT negative?
Brand me an “opponent” if you will. Such knee-jerk defensiveness to criticism says more about you than about what my values (of which you have no idea) are. I’m pleased FIC is doing so well that it can afford to kick people in the teeth for mentioning Christmas in a non-political way.
Christ’s blessing to you, Peter.
Well, let’s see. I praise the Courant, downplay this year’s attacks on local nativity scenes and declare that things appear to be on the upswing. Heck, I even dismissed the atheist thing in Vernon. And yet, to you, my post is a “negative screed” and oh, by the way, shame on us for missing the annual Christmas greeting on the blog.
But hey, I shouldn’t brand you an opponent because you “had hoped to be a friend.” Um, if you say so.
Your latest comment appears to confirm my opinion, but I’ll take you at your word that that’s just me. Christ’s blessing to you too, Alis.
Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.
Regarding the now apparently annual and pathetic tradition of vandalizing Nativity scenes, while I am in no way excusing that sordid behavior, I think we may be unknowingly, unintentionally, and indirectly contributing to it.
We all know all too well of seemingly infinite and very genuinely intended acts of hateful, anti-Christian, anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish, and anti-religious motivation.
But as with the recent case in Naugatuck, I can’t help but think that more often than not, such acts of vandalism are simply carried out by juvenile delinquents, if not simply bratty kids, who also vandalize homes with Halloween decorations at that time of year. Nativity scenes (or Menorahs) , like Halloween decorations, or any other publicly displayed, potential targets of motivated vandals, tend to be easy marks of opportunity for their miscreant prey.
Like with the occasional occurring and overly hyped and reported so-called “hate crime” graffiti, directly targeted at any social group, there is a certain degree of political correctness involved, and quite frankly, I have seen the local press and media treat such crime scenes as if murder occurred there instead of vandalism.
Again, I am in no way giving these perpetrators a pass on this errant and criminal behavior by any means, but many of these kids crave attention, and by giving so much of it to them, we feed into and (passively) encourage the repetition of these acts. That doesn’t mean such anti-social behavior should be ignored or tolerated, either, but I think we need to better discern truly targeted acts from random acts.
Such incidents anger and disgust me as well, but I think we need to distinguish and appropriately respond to acts carried out by adults (or kids) with an intended racist, anti-religious, or any other kind of truly hateful, anti-social agenda vs. acts carried out by some bored, punk kid who would probably be as equally prone to also vandalizing cars, traffic control signs, homes, schools, bridges, etc. at any time of the year.
Doug
How convenient to mention the attacks on christian displays without mentioning that the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia’s Tree of Knowledge was not only vandalized on 4 seperate occasions, but was then cut down and removed early by the person in charge of the removal of the tree on the grounds that he was christian and opposed to the display. Typical hypocrites.
-Kellym78
http://www.rationalresponders.com