Commentary: Vandalism is vandalism — Don’t blame the church

Sherman R. Frederick

Novato Advance

I don’t have anything against lawyers, per se. But, gudgawdalmighty, they can make the strangest arguments with the straightest of faces. 

Take the San Rafael lawyer who described himself as a “lifelong Catholic” and wrote an op-ed for the daily newspaper. He wrote  — and I’m not making this up — that the San Rafael parish was “asking for trouble” when it continued to display the statue of Junipero Serra on church grounds.

He went on to say that authorities are wrong to characterize the desecration and vandalism of the statue as a “hate crime or an attack on the Catholic Church.” 

The “protesters” who pulled the statue down “did no harm to the church or any other church property.” 

Really? Should we thank the protesters for showing such marvelous restraint by not burning down the church? Or, maybe we should chastise the church for displaying such a provocative statue of a saint on church grounds?

This is crazy talk. 

Vandalism is vandalism. Don’t excuse it. 

THE LONELY ELDERLY

NBC carried an on-point story last week about the elderly dying of loneliness under COVID-19 restrictions. It recounts state health department records that show at least 10 Minnesotans between June and September have died of “failure to thrive related to COVID-19 restrictions.”

We have a similar problem in Marin. I know this because at a recent public Zoom meeting it was reported that a  long-term care facility here hired extra security to prevent relatives of residents from sneaking in the facility to see loved ones. 

This is one of those unintended consequences of COVID-19 restrictions. We ought to talk more about it.

COLORIZING B&W PHOTOS

I am all for colorizing B&W photos of old cars, such as this one.

CORRECTION OF THE WEEK

You can’t be in the newspaper business for long without realizing that corrections happen, no matter how good you are. But, some corrections, well, are just better than others. Consider this one: 

ONE MORE THING.

— Sheep rolling down a hill: A lamb slide.

— How do you stop Canadian bacon from curling in the pan? Take away their tiny brooms.

— A player for the NHL’s New Jersey Devils was arrested for attempted theft at an Atlanta fish market. According to the police report, the Devil went down to Georgia. He was lookin’ for a sole to steal.

— I had a date last night. I enjoyed it. Tonight I’m going to have a fig.

— Geology rocks, but geography is where it’s at. 

And with that, ladies and germs, I’ll pick up my knitting and let myself out. Thanks for reading and supporting our brand of journalism throughout Marin. We’re lovin’ every minute of it. Stay safe. Mask up.

Sherman R. Frederick is the founder of Battle Born Media, a journalist-based, family-owned company dedicated to the preservation of intensely local community newspapers, such as this one.  You can follow him for his daily musings on Facebook at facebook.com/sherm.frederick/. He may be reached at shermfrederick@gmail.com.)

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