One Christian took the relativistic ramblings of his minister to heart. Hey, the good news is that the minister knows he’s being listened to. The bad news is…well…the bad news is that, according to The Guardian:
A priest who advised poor people to shoplift was showered with a bucket of pasta for making the remarks, the Church of England confirmed today.
The Rev Tim Jones, from St Lawrence and St Hilda in York, attracted harsh words earlier this month from the police and a former archbishop of Canterbury for telling his congregation it was acceptable for the needy to steal to feed their families.
But there came a very different rebuke last weekend, when a man approached the priest outside the church and threw 30 tins worth of ravioli and spaghetti on him. The contents of the bucket may well have been inspired by Jones himself, who said he would “rather that people take an 80p can of ravioli rather than turn to some of the most appalling things”.
Martin Stot, 48, thought the priest’s comments could encourage young people to steal and decided to take action. He told York Press: “One theft could be on their record for 10 years. It would be difficult for them to get a job. I was just offended by what he said. I thought I would make my own little protest.” He bought the canned pasta from Asda and hid in a phone box until the priest emerged from the regular Sunday service.
In the controversial sermon, given the week before Christmas, Jones said society had failed many needy people and it was far better that they shoplift than turn to more degrading or violent options such as prostitution, mugging or burglary.
In fairness, the priest was pretty cool about it and didn’t even report the incident to police.
I think the lesson we should all take from this is that while we can all agree that pelting priests with pasta is bad, it is far better than throwing more dangerous things.
And if the man in question was considering doing something worse like tossing frozen meats or pot pies at the priest and opted to throw tiny Raviolis then it could be argued that a moral good was done.
Hey, I like this moral relativism. I could get used to this.
(Let it be known that the CMR legal team has advised us to ensure the public that we in no way endorses pelting religious with pasta or any food products for that matter. And we hereby advise that if you’re going to throw food at Catholic bloggers like us please let it be Swiss Rolls or Ring Dings. And please leave the wrappings on so we could enjoy it later. Let is also be known that as we are Catholics we don’t believe in condiments.)
