Chances are you know at least one atheist who finds religious views foolish—the very idea of believing that God became man or that a virgin gave birth is hogwash, they think. But even while many of these people can’t imagine believing what we believe, they never the less treat religious people with respect and decorum.
Then there are people who think religious people are foolish and, in an exceptionally juvenile way, take great efforts and pleasure in mocking them. One such man is a Minnesota professor who solicited readers of his blog this past summer to attend Catholic Masses, aquire consecrated hosts, and mail them to him so he could publicly desecrate them.
And last week, a man attacked a priest during Mass when confronted about walking away with a host. Perhaps the man was one one of the blog-readers, or perhaps just a like-minded fanatic. In any case, he didn’t get away with it. Here’s the best part of the news story covering it : “The enraged and offended parishioners pinned him to the ground until police could arrive.”
It’s sad and troubling, of course, and mind-boggling why one who doesn’t believe these things could care and take such great effort to disrupt believers’ practices.
But it’s heartening to see the faithful so ready to defend the priest and the Eucharist, not to mention their freedoms of religion and assembly.
