Statues at local church vandalized

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odile53

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The link will take you to a local news report of vandalism of outdoor statues at a Catholic church near Buffalo, NY

cheektowaga.wgrz.com/news/news/58974-church-statues-damaged-overnight

Of interest in this crime was the fact that pages of scripture referencing idol worship were left outside the church, weighted down with bricks so that they wouldn’t blow away. The damage was deliberate: A statue of St. Joseph was beheaded, and statues of Mary and the Sacred Heart had had their faces removed and thrown onto the ground.

Local police speculate that this was done by more than one person. It seems very statement-oriented, not your usual “louts-trashing-property” impulsive type of crime.

The amount of damage was estimated at $21,000, making the crime a felony in NYS. More to the point, these statues had been removed from a closed Catholic orphanage, and had much history behind them.

With all that is going on in the world nowadays, I realize the fate of the nation or of Christendom doesn’t depend on the action of some vandals. But it’s a nasty, cowardly, and thoroughly uncalled-for local event that has hurt a lot of people.
 
This is so disheartening. I hope they catch these people, and force them to repay the cost of the statues.
 
Hopefully the person or persons are caught. One doesn’t expect to hear of these kinds of things in Buffalo. Sad.
 
Having lived in Buffalo for several years, I am going to make a bet with you that the perps of this infamy are a gang of suburban teenagers and/or young twenties who feel they are immune to all retribution. Wanna bet back???
 
It’s times like this we need to remember the Lord’s prayer.
“And please forgive those who trespass against us.”

We shouldnt condemn these people, they are condemning themselves. We should love those who hate us, we should all be martyrs in our own right, stand up for what is right, but in love.
This is sad news, these vandals don’t know the history they are destroying though.
 
🍿
George_Stegmeir said:
Having lived in Buffalo for several years, I am going to make a bet with you that the perps of this infamy are a gang of suburban teenagers and/or young twenties who feel they are immune to all retribution. Wanna bet back???
Click to expand...
I’ll take your bet.Don’t think this was the work of kids,since they wouldn’t leave pages from a bible about not worshipping idols behind. That’s the work of adults,unless these were evangelical teenagers.I’m still betting on adults did this.
 
I’m thinking some sort of adult extremists myself.

Interesting thing is, Cheektowaga is a decent sized suburb that is well-patrolled by police. It’s pretty weird that nobody noticed any unusual activity around that church. Gouging out the faces of a couple of statues would take some time (not like just smashing a statue.) But yes, I do agree in part–there are plenty of teens and young adults in these parts who think they are impervious to legal redress.
 
asia53 said:
The police have made an arrest, a 41 year old man!

Hmm, maybe, a good thing no one took you up on the bet.
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As you have shown, older folks can also commit religiously motivated vandalism. However, your link concerns crimes in New Jersey and the link in the first post concerns vandalism in New York state. I’m inclined to believe the Cheektowaga crimes were committed by an adult. How old, I guess we will see.

Some good news is that a police captain expects DNA and fingerprints can be lifted from the handwritten notes.
global.christianpost.com/news/damage-to-vandalized-church-statues-estimated-at-21k-55339/
 
Dale_M said:
As you have shown, older folks can also commit religiously motivated vandalism. However, your link concerns crimes in New Jersey and the link in the first post concerns vandalism in New York state. I’m inclined to believe the Cheektowaga crimes were committed by an adult. How old, I guess we will see.

Some good news is that a police captain expects DNA and fingerprints can be lifted from the handwritten notes.
global.christianpost.com/news/damage-to-vandalized-church-statues-estimated-at-21k-55339/
Click to expand...
My apologies–you are right. I saw vandalism, and didn’t link Cheektowaga vs New York. At times the brain doesn’t connect. 🤷
 
I support religious freedom, so I consider these actions a crime against democracy. However, I am surprised that no one seems to have considered the most obvious explanation of what happened: devoutly-held religious beliefs. There is a long history of of the destruction of images in the name of God. I seem to recall one religion that did a lot of this in South America and everywhere else it came into contact with other religions. The people who did that were no less criminal than the people who committed this latest crime. But all were no doubt sinless in their own religious minds.
 
:rotfl:

Read one of the comments!
Though I think this is terrible that these statues were ruined, I must agree with one of the notes left at the scene. Catholics do worship idols. They do this when they pray to statues of saints. You only pray to God, not statues. The first commandment is I am the Lord Thy God, thou shalt not have strange gods before me. Thou shalt not make graven images. Statues are graven images
Click to expand...
 
Well, the police did make an arrest: A 30 year old homeless man who has been hanging around the area for awhile. His responses were a little strange when they questioned him, so they got suspicious. He eventually confessed, expressed no remorse whatsoever, and one story said that he said if the church was open, he would have gone in and destroyed other “idols” as well. He is currently under arrest, without bail pending the results of a psychologic exam.

Here’s the link:

wkbw.com/news/crime/Arrest-Made-in-Church-Statue-Vandalism-129659013.html

I hope the guy gets the help he needs, he does sound a little disturbed to me.
 
How disgusting. By the sound of it, some anti-Catholic fundamentalists did the damage since they left scripture verses about idol worship. They should know that we are not worshiping idols by having statues of the saints and Jesus around. There is a big difference between venerating and worshiping. That said, I hope and pray that the perpetrators are found and that justice is served.
 
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