Church Attack Caught On Video
“Police have arrested a man in connection with an attack on a woman in a church pew — an attack that was caught on a surveillance video.
It happened Wednesday about 60 miles north of New York City, as the woman was praying at the chapel of St. Joseph’s Church.”
This Associated Press article illustrates the moral and technological climate of today.
Security cameras are ubiquitous; we can’t walk a few yards on most city streets without being recorded and monitored by cameras. Not to mention the millions of cell phone cameras that are sometimes surreptitiously focused on us.
But I never would have imagined that a house of worship would have installed security cameras. The woman praying at the chapel was apparently under the illusion that her communion with God was a private matter, but in our technological age very few of our everyday transactions are private.
By definition a deity sees everything, but He can’t be called upon to testify in a court of law. A camera doesn’t see everything, but many criminals have been convicted because of the evidence from surveillance tapes.
A believer might derive comfort from sensing the presence of an all-seeing God in a sanctuary, but he might derive greater security when he notices the security cameras.
A church used to be a sanctuary and refuge from a turbulent society, but the bogeyman now prowls around church pews. Security cameras in churches are a concession to the fact that we live in a violent and dangerous world.
The attacker faces felony charges including attempted rape. I hope he gets the book thrown at him.
I write a weekly column for a small town newspaper in Virginia, and I also write for several Web sites. Please leave a comment or send me an email at: rreyes4966@aol.com | More from Robert Paul Reyes
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