Really.

I mean, a Catholic parish has set up a monument to those slain by abortion. It is on church grounds, and is a reflection of the teachings of the church. On the last three months, the monument has been desecrated seven times -- vandalized and knocked off its pedastal. Do you think we have a prima facie case for treating this as a hate crime?

"When it's the seventh time, I question whether this is some sort of desecration or hate crime," said the church pastor, Father Henry Zinno. "When it's constant, obviously someone is making an effort to knock it down. By the seventh time there is a clear message."

The pastor has called the police. He's asked the church's 1,600 families to pay close attention as they drive by. And he had metal bars installed on the front and back of the stone memorial.

And still, the 4-foot monument that has been blessed by the bishop keeps being knocked to the ground.

"We keep putting it back up and calling the police," Zinno said, adding that it takes three or four men to lift it each time. "There's not much we can do."

But when Zinno found the stone rectangle lying on its side this weekend, he knew something more had to be done.

"Every time something like this happens, we announce it to parishioners," he said. "People got pretty upset about it."

The church has decided to put up motion detector lights. And a parishioner agreed to put iron rods into the monument to make it impossible to move.

One does not "accidently" knock over a piece of stone that takes three or four people to re-seat.

The wind does not simply start blowing it over.

This is a deliberate malicious attempt to silence a religious message.

It is an intentional act of hate against those who believe the truth that the monument proclaims.

It is a planned assault on rights explicitly guaranteed by the Constitution by those who seek to coerce acceptance of one which is not there at all..

Posted by: Greg at 01:47 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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