Back when I had a car, the most prominently displayed bumper sticker read "Religious people frighten me, spiritual people enlighten me." Although I have neither car or bumper sticker anymore, I still believe in what it said, especially when I see ridiculous outbursts of violence like that at the Church of the Nativity yesterday in Bethelem.
From The AFP:
BETHLEHEM, West Bank (AFP) — Seven people were injured on Thursday when Greek Orthodox and Armenian priests came to blows in a dispute over how to clean the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.
Following the Christmas celebrations, Greek Orthodox priests set up ladders to clean the walls and ceilings of their part of the church, which is built over the site where Jesus Christ is believed to have been born.
But the ladders encroached on space controlled by Armenian priests, according to photographers who said angry words ensued and blows quickly followed.
For a quarter of an hour bearded and robed priests laid into each other with fists, brooms and iron rods while the photographers who had come to take pictures of the annual cleaning ceremony recorded the whole event.
How frickin sad.
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