HolyCoast: Religious Vandalism in Mission Viejo
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Friday, January 01, 2010

Religious Vandalism in Mission Viejo

I wasn't going to post again today but saw something that really bugged me, so here we go.

We were returning home from lunch and came to the intersection known as "Four Corners" (La Paz and Chrisanta) where the annual holiday religious displays are placed. Here's one of the corners that features displays from the local Islamic Society, the creche put up by a local Assembly of God church, and the display from the Baha'i Faith:
My wife noticed a sheriff's deputy talking to two people by the Islamic display and taking a report. They were also taking photos. A closer look reveals that some idiot decided to vandalize the Islamic Society display with spray paint. There didn't appear to be any damage to the other displays, including the display from the local Jewish group that's placed on opposite corner.
A closer look shows us this display included verses from the Qur'an, and if I'm not mistaken, this was the first year they'd used this one. I seem to remember a different display in past years.
In fact, I looked up an old post of mine and found the display they used for a number of years. It's on the left in the photo below:



There's no call for this kind of stuff. Lord knows that I and a lot of other people have real problems with the radicalized elements of the Islamic world, but that's not who we're dealing with here in Mission Viejo. These people are our neighbors and their display wishing the community well during the holidays deserved just as much respect as I would hope would be given to those of the Christian, Jewish and Baha'i Faith (yes, we have quite a mix in this city). It's upsetting to me personally to see this kind of nonsense going on in my town.

I hope my Muslim neighbors will be back with another display next year.

2 comments:

Robb said...

Its like flag burning. It might get your 15 seconds of fame, but other than that, the only thing it accomplishes is getting other people angry.

Anonymous said...

"Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship."
(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 87)

As far as I am concerned that is a Law of God. Attention to that one statement would transform the world.

- dlherrmann
(Baha'i of over 40 years)