Nativity Vandalization On The Rise

Posted by Joe Scheidler (December 16, 2004 at 2:16 pm)

We have some sad news to report during this festive season. A young mother, Mara McGlade, daughter of local pro-life activists Larry and Mira Skrobot, died shortly after giving birth to her second child, a baby boy, on December 8, the Feast of he Immaculate Conception.

Young Activist Mom Dies in Childbirth

Mara use to participate in demonstrations at the abortion mills with her parents when she was in her teens and early twenties. She sidewalk counseled at the Washington Street abortuary.

She was still in her twenties when she died just a couple of hours after delivering her baby. The baby is in good health. The Skrobots had adopted three African American boys, and a little girl, Suzanna, who had been saved from abortion.

Funeral services will be held for Mara on Monday, December 20. A special visitation will be held at the Homewood Church this Sunday, December 19, from 3 to 9 p.m. That’s at 18301 Governors Highway (map).

May Mara rest in peace and enjoy her first Christmas in Heaven. We are praying extra hard for the Skrobot Family, during their time of grief.

I recall that it was at Christmas time that my father died, and something went out of all the lights and bells and colors, until Christmas Mass, when I prayed extra hard that Dad was already in Heaven, spending a much better Christmas than we were down here on earth.

Record Nativity Scene Vandalism

William Donahue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has tracked 24 Nativity scene thefts or defacements so far this Christmas season, twice the norm for such vandalism for the entire season in past years.

Professor James Hudnut-Beumler of Vanderbilt University who has studied the history of religion for many years said that while the vandalism is growing more common, the meaning of the deeds could range from a rude insult to a critique of the season’s commercialization. He calls it “ambiguous” and says it is not as obvious as a swastika painted on a synagogue. He says these thefts and vandalism of creches probably marks both a loss of civility about religion and a loss of general civility.

But the victims of this vandalism point to a variety of reasons, from sheer vandalism to theft for profit. Some were painted brown and returned, possibly as a racial statement. Others were found or returned. But some folks packed up their whole set and do not intend to put it up next Christmas.

Chapman Says Oust Rehnquist

A couple of negatives out of Thursday’s Chicago Tribune to ponder over the weekend: Steve Chapman thinks Chief Justice William Rehnquist should quit. His health is bad, he has some kind of thyroid cancer and he has outspent his time, according to Chapman.

But judges are appointed for life and Rehnquist is still alive, so Chapman suggests impeachment, a new Constitutional Amendment demanding that a Justices step down when he reaches 70 or 75, or a large monetary offer that would make retirement too good a deal to pass up. Must have been a slow news day.

And a letter in the Voice of the People from Sam Johnson of Eureka, IL says if you watch It’s a Wonderful Life this season you may notice that the United States has become more of a “Pottersville” than good old “Bedford Falls.” Some of his arguments make sense, some don’t, but it’s worth checking it out. There have been a lot of changes in the past sixty years or so since the movie was produced.

Feds Admit Pill Study Flawed

Federal officials this week backed away from an earlier finding that the birth control pill can cut heart disease. A new analysis has determined that the heart findings were defective and that a more through recent study of both heart disease and breast cancer does indicate that both studies were defective. More studies to come.

One of these days they may get it right: the pill does increase chances of getting breast cancer.

Posted in Contraception, Law and Politics, The Church. Follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.