Jesse Handy |
Quasimodo made the word famous in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. It refers to a safe haven of sorts that is universally respected, such as a house of worship. I read a war diary in which an American soldier was running from a group of North Vietnamese soldiers and stumbled upon a Buddhist temple. Though they were at war, the chase ended because the men respected the fact he sought refuge in the temple.
History is filled with instances of men (and women) running into mosques, synagogues, temples and churches and being left there by their pursuers.
Finding sanctuary is, in essence, playing an advanced game of hide-and-seek. If you make it to "base," you're safe. One of the most recent examples of this happened in 1989. When the United States invaded Panama, Manuel Noriega ran into a church and the United States couldn't legally pull him out. The church laughed at the U.S. government when it "demanded" the church hand him over. It went all the way to the Vatican.
The government realized it wasn't going to get him, so it merely irritated the hell out of him by blasting old Van Halen albums 24 hours a day. This apparently worked, but probably only because Noriega was pissed they wouldn't take his numerous requests for Metallica. Had he not given himself up, he'd still be there.
Would such a thing ever happen here in the United States? Hell no! Despite the fact that every right-wing weasel and his dog thumps his Bible and bellows how this nation is the greatest in the world because it was founded on religious principles, if you run into one of their houses of worship and ask for sanctuary, they'll look at you as if you're speaking Czechoslovakian (I know the place no longer exists, but I just like saying "Czechoslovakia") and ponder what the word means as the cops drag you away.
The truth is, most of what's said in the United States about respect for religion is just lip service. In many nations considered by Americans to be havens for religious fanatics, you could slaughter your entire family, run into a house of worship and they couldn't lay a glove on you. Of course, they'd be waiting for you outside and you could never leave, but at least they wouldn't come in after you.
"Who are you?"
"Just call me Father Jesse, 'cause I ain't going nowhere!"
I was watching the news a couple of months ago, and I saw cops rush into a church at the end of a wedding ceremony (just after the "I do" and the "I now pronounce you") and arrested the groom for bad checks, traffic tickets or something else trivial. I thought, "Daaamn!"
Sorry, I forgot - this is the same nation that doesn't respect your religious beliefs unless you're a white, Anglo-Saxon Protestant. That was proven in the early 1960s when Mississippi bore witness to scores of church burnings and the FBI, under the brilliant leadership of J. Edgar "How do I look in this dress?" Hoover, did nothing about it.
This nation's history is peppered with instances of people being persecuted because of their religious beliefs. This haven of religious freedom gave us the Salem witch trials and the extreme anti-Catholic sentiment that once led to organized anti-Catholic parades in New York City.
The reason this country doesn't really respect religious principles is that, throughout the history of this hemisphere, hypocritical men used religion solely as a way to get rich, to pacify people who could otherwise become angry mobs, and as an excuse for genocide. Masters used religion to keep slaves submissive. They were told that they would be rewarded in the afterlife for their submission.
I'm not the most religious person in the world, but at least I respect the beliefs of others, even if I don't necessarily agree with them. The cute little hypocritical way America claims to have laws based in morality and then shows contempt for religions cracks me up.
The brain trust in the Christian coalition that advocates prayer in schools often overlook the fact that Islam and Catholicism are the world's two largest religions, and Christianity (the religion it advocates) has several branches. Many branches of Christianity are at one another's throats, so how are we supposed to believe that, given the power, they wouldn't try to stuff their dogma down the throats of Muslims, Hindus and Jews (not to mention Buddhists and anyone else who doesn't fall in line with their agenda)? We're "one nation under God," but I guess that's only when necessary.
Handy is a senior RTV major who seeks sanctuary in the mountains.