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August 30, 2004
Dance to stop the race!
By now almost everyone knows about the nutcase who disrupted the Olympic Marathon: ATHENS, Greece - A man wearing a brightly colored costume bolted from the crowd and grabbed the leader of the marathon Sunday, about three miles from the finish. The intruder wrestled Vanderlei Lima of Brazil to the curb and into the crowd. Police tackled the intruder and freed Lima.Portugal threw me off entirely, as I looked at the picture and thought the guy was dressed as Christopher Columbus and had tackled the Brazilian as a bizarre way to protest colonial Imperialism. Well, it turns out he wasn't Portuguese; he's a well known, defrocked priest from Ireland. A Kerry priest! If you think I am kidding, read this: THE Kerry priest who brought the British Grand Prix to a halt last week has been remanded in custody for a further two weeks.I just knew there had to be a Kerry connection! (Aren't they busy enough with the Republicans in New York?) Seriously, though, Father Horan is a serious man with a serious message, and some serious, um, issues: “Remember it took only 20 minutes to destroy the Twin Towers on September 11. The end is closer than we think,” Horan predicted recently.I have no problem with dancing as a way to save the world, just as I have no problem with protests. But there is such a thing as time, place and manner. (As I hastened to point out again in the last post.) This Father Horan is not new to the blogosphere; Anthony Wells has posted about him at least twice. Sports columnists like stuff like this, of course. Father Horan is also a published author of at least two books -- Christ Will Soon Take Power From All Governments, and The Bible And The Grand Prix Priest (the latter refers to his dancing on the racetrack; can dancing against NASCAR be far behind?) -- both of which are available here: Even the most hardened cynic will get that prickly feeling down the back of his neck as he reads this book.Definitely my kind of book! Is God speaking to us through this man? Before you laugh, bear in mind that Father Horan has some serious supporters: One can only admire the man, who describes himself as a priest on sabbatical, for having the courage to risk life and limb to highlight his beliefs but, in that respect, he has been ploughing a long furrow for decades. In keeping with our policy of giving a voice to individuals or groups that find themselves in a distinct minority, this newspaper has been charting the life and times of the Scartaglin-born priest for many years.Creative dancing? Religious zeal? Or mental illness? One of the reasons why unstable people escalate is because (as in the case of Michael Marcavage) they're encouraged and enabled by people who see them as shock troops for their own cause. I think it's just as well that Horan wasn't Portuguese, or dressed as Columbus, because he'd be attracting more supporters. It hasn't escaped my attention that many who claim to oppose religion in politics (except fundamentalist Islam, of course) are in their behavior at least as sanctimonious, as glazed in the eyes -- and even as messianic -- as the religious zealots they condemn. (Messianic photo-link via Glenn Reynolds.) posted by Eric on 08.30.04 at 07:13 AM |
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