Posted on 03/24/2008 6:51:53 AM PDT by jdm
A group of anti-war protesters interrupted an Easter Mass in Chicago yesterday, stunning parishioners with their shouts during Cardinal Francis George’s homily. They then squirted stage blood on the congregation, leading to their arrest and an angry confrontation in the gathering space outside the hall. As it turns out, the protesters not only were mostly incoherent, but also very, very late (via Memeorandum):
Six people were arrested at Holy Name parish’s auditorium Sunday after disrupting an Easter mass to protest the Iraq war.
The group—whose female and male members identified themselves as Catholic Schoolgirls Against the War—stood up at the beginning of Cardinal Francis George’s homily and shouted their opposition to the conflict, which marked its fifth anniversary last week. As security guards and ushers tried to remove them from the service, the demonstrators squirted fake blood on themselves and parishioners dressed in their Easter finery.
The red substance, which one protester later described as “stage blood,” initially drew gasps and a few terrified yelps from the 600 worshipers at the mass. The shock, however, quickly transformed into anger as people booed the six while they were escorted from the parish auditorium.
Why did they target the Chicago cathedral? Almost three months ago, Cardinal George met with President Bush. The protesters explained (much later) that the Cardinal should have challenged Bush to end the war during that private meeting. They failed to explain (a) how they know that Cardinal George didn’t do that, and (b) why it took them ten weeks to protest the meeting.
I warned people three weeks ago that the anti-war movement was going to start getting violent. Alan Colmes scoffed at the notion, but assaulting people sitting in church demonstrates that the fringe of the movement has no sense of boundaries, and their frustration at losing in the political process keeps growing. Instead of peacefully protesting outside the cathedral, which is their right to do, they insisted on breaking the law and conspiring to commit multiple acts of battery. This time, they used fake blood. How long before that won’t be enough, and they start trying to draw real blood instead?
Jim Hoft has a roundup of links relating to the story. It turns out that one of the apparent sponsors of this attack is the International Solidarity Movement, a pro-Palestinian organization. Why is a sponsor of the Palestinian cause sponsoring or at least offering apologetics for an attack on a Catholic Mass? One might expect the news media to ask that question, and to ask whether this is just an anti-war attack or whether it is an anti-Catholic, anti-Christian hate crime.
If that’s not clear enough, let me ask readers what kind of coverage this would have provoked had it been conducted against the worshipers at a mosque. If a group of anti-terrorist protesters had broken into Friday prayers at a Chicago mosque to spray stage blood all over Muslims in protest of al-Qaeda and the Taliban — a little stronger connection than that between the Catholic Church and the war in Iraq — the newspapers would have trumpeted it as a hate crime against American Muslims, followed by weeks of human-interest, anecdotal accounts of how terrible America is to its Muslim citizens.
Update: Via Jim and Carl in Jerusalem, here’s the video:
Notice the little bit of performance art in the middle of this protest, when they fall down shrieking. I’m assuming that’s when they threw stage blood on the parishioners. I’m heartened that they have been charged with a felony in connection to this protest, although I doubt that Chicago will actually follow through on prosecuting it.
“Punishment varies from a fine or imprisonment for an offense involving exclusively a nonviolent physical obstruction, the fine shall be not more than $10,000 and the length of imprisonment shall be up to six months, or both, for the first offense: and the fine shall, notwithstanding section 3571, be up to $25,000 and the length of imprisonment shall be not more than 18 months, or both, for a subsequent offense; and if bodily injury results, the length of imprisonment shall be up to ten years, and if death results, it shall be for any term of years or for life.”
I wonder—will we ever see these cruds, mentioned above, ever be punished?
I’ll put up bail for any of you who need to educate them on the way to respect... (insert list of many many things these dingbats need to learn to respect)
The Pope basically said that he agreed with his predecessor that the war was a bad idea in the first place, but now that Iraq has a new and freer government, the US has a moral responsibility to finish what it started and as quickly as possible.
Basically, the most common sense attitude an opponent of the war could take.
Hence their rage.
That's one ugly commie "schoolgirl" :)
It's a shame the entire lot of them can't be shipped to North Korea or Iran.
That’ll sure capture the Catholic vote for Obama.
“I know quite a few Catholics that would have pounded these punks into the pavement!...........”
And why not? Somebody’s got to keep the stereotype of “pugnacious Irishmen” going, and that would have been a great opportunity!
“nahhhh.......nice thing about hippies is they have long hair....grab the hair, kick their feet out from under them, and then, walking very fast, drag their asses out of the area....”
Sure. To someplace quiet where you can “continue the conversation” in private.
Lot's of people don't want to hear the US has a moral responsibility to finish what it started
Boy, those are some sour looking people. Ever notice how these “concerned protesters” never smile. They all look about as cheerful as a constipated porcupine.
I can’t recall off the top of my head if the Pope or Cardinal George came out in favor of the Iraq war. That’s what makes this so weird. Boggles the mind why they’d disrupt a Mass. If these loonies must “protest”, you’d think they’d pull their silly antics outside a recruiting station.
Let's see...Private handgun ownership outlawed...violent anti-Amer...I'm sorry, anti-war demonstration in a Catholic church.
Coincidence? I think not.
Well said Moose! I’m Jewish, but the good Father at the neighborhood church back in Phila PA (probably the Sisters too for that matter) would have clunked these fools heads together and heaved ‘em out into the street without interupting the Mass!
The heck with the Fathers. Let’s turn the NUNS loose on these freaks. I’d love to see them peeing themselves with a whole herd of Sister Mary Stigmatas charging at them, waving their rulers...
}:-)4
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.