Vandalism at two schools in Denver prompt investigation into motives of antisemitism
Plus exorcisms, an upcoming conference on sex ed, divisions over women preachers and more
Following news that a civil rights complaint has been filed against a Douglas County charter school alleging that school officials created a hostile environment for Jewish students, two instances of vandalism took place at Denver schools over the weekend that are prompting new concerns over antisemitism.
On Saturday, antisemitic, homophobic and racist messages were spray-painted at George Washington High School, a public school in Denver. Late on Sunday someone threw two rocks and broke a window in the high school of Denver Academy of Torah, a private Jewish school. According to a news release from ADL Mountain States, a witness to the incident saw the perpetrator make an anti-Jewish statement before leaving.
Both incidents are currently under investigation by the Denver police as potential hate crimes, according to the Denver Post. It is currently unknown whether the incidents are linked.
Colorado Sun education reporter Erica Breulin wrote about how George Washington students and staff are dealing with the incident.
“It’s a difficult thing when people have to know that they’re going to a school in a community where that kind of hateful behavior has taken place,” ADL Mountain States director Scott Levin told the Sun. As the ADL noted in its release, antisemitic incidents in Colorado have continued to increase over the past several years, with 60 incidents reported in 2020.
Local leaders condemned the vandalism.
“It is painful to behold this chilling act of hate in our neighborhood,” Colorado AG Phil Weiser said on twitter. “We must hold accountable those responsible for these horrific acts and work to address rising hate. As @ADLMtnStates teaches, hate against any of us is an act of hate against us all.”
“These acts have absolutely no place in our society, and we stand in solidarity with our Jewish brothers and sisters,” Archbishop Samuel Aquila said in the Denver Catholic. “I also want to thank the Jewish Community Relations Council and the Anti-Defamation League Mountain States Region for speaking out recently about the vandalism at our parishes and offering their support.”
Holy ghosts
Denver Post paranormal activity reporter Elizabeth Hernandez spoke to residents of an apartment complex who are experiencing what they believe to be hauntings. The apartment is located on the site of former St. Luke’s Hospital, which was so unpopular with neighbors that some referred to it as “a death house.” You can’t exactly call a repairman to deal with a ghost — so what are renters to do? Local psychic Robin Wells told the Post that people should deal with these situations in a way that aligns with their values:
“Wells advised anyone dealing with a haunted house to handle things in a way that makes sense to them. For example, she said, if a homeowner was Christian, they could consult a priest or spritz the place with holy water. Mark Haas, spokesman for the Denver Archdiocese, said a Catholic is welcome to meet with their local priest and discuss their specific issues if they’re in the market for a genuine exorcism.
Someone else may feel more at ease sprinkling sea salt in front of the apartment door or burning cleansing rosemary in the space, Wells said. They may want to consult a medium. They might feel empowered speaking to the entity, making an agreement not to scare each other and to cohabitate peacefully.”
If you do have an exorcism: please, please, please tell Have, Faith Colorado about it.
The birds and the bees
The Archdiocese of Denver’s annual Gospel of Life Conference will focus this year on sex education in public schools. The conference is being held Oct. 22 at St. Thomas More Church in Centennial and Oct. 23 at Immaculate Heart of Mary in Northglenn, and is free and open to the public. According to the Denver Catholic, the conference seeks to “equip parents with the necessary tools to protect the health and innocence of their children” and will feature Family Research Council legal fellow Cathy Ruse as a keynote speaker.
“I’m out in parishes all the time, and there [has been] a lot of buzz, especially this past spring, about parents saying, ‘what in the world is going on here in Colorado with them pushing the sex ed curriculum that’s getting in all the schools?’” Lynn Grandon, director of the Archdiocese’s Respect Life office, told Denver Catholic. “They’re really riled up about it.”
Ruse is the author of an FRC brochure titled Sex Education in Public Schools: Sexualization of Children and LGBTQ Indoctrination. The Family Research Council was formed by Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, but is now its own separate entity. It has been heavily criticized by the SPLC and gay rights organizations for its stances on LGBTQ issues.
Sex education has taken as backseat as critical race theory and mask mandates became this year’s educational controversies du jour, but in 2019 religious groups came out in opposition to a Colorado bill updating the state’s sex education requirements. The two issues are not entirely separate: No Left Turn in Education, one of the main groups behind the anti-CRT backlash, also opposes “comprehensive sexuality education,” the same thing that Ruse decries in her brochure.
Who can lead?
In another example of the growing political tensions within the Southern Baptist Convention, Baptist News published an article about church planters being required to sign pledges not to hire women as pastors at the churches they found, in the same way many are required to sign pledges not to drink alcohol. The article mentions Pueblo pastor Tedd Mathis, who recently wrote a blogpost speaking out against allowing women leaders.
In his post, Mathis discussed a resolution on the issue at Colorado Baptists’ annual meeting last week, and criticized Colorado churches who allow women to preach and serve as pastors, which he said “dishonored and distorted” God’s design. He also said he was “seeing the tentacles of the godless ideology of Critical Race Theory unnecessarily divide Christ’s blood-bought people” in Colorado.
The SBC has become increasingly fractious over the past several years as different factions have sparred over issues including politics, racism, addressing sexual abuse and the role of women. As Mathis’ post shows, it's clear these divides are present at the local as well as national level.
Faith-based exemptions
Several weeks ago in our newsletter we asked Colorado religious organizations for their positions on faith-based exemptions to vaccine mandates. Emeritus CU journalism professor Paul Voakes recently wrote an op-ed for his church where he shared his own perspective on the subject:
“As Episcopalians, when we confess our sins together each week, one of the few sins specifically named in a very concise confession is this: ‘We have not loved our neighbors as ourselves.’ Covid is so aggressively contagious that getting vaccinated is essentially an act of caring for the health of our ‘neighbors’ – family, friends, employees, co-workers, customers.
The vaccine controversy seems to pit individual rights against concern for the greater good. The New Testament is replete with concerns for the welfare of others, our neighbors. I don’t see in our confession a lament that ‘we have failed to stand up for our individual rights.’”
Thanks to Paul for allowing us to excerpt his letter in HFC. Do other readers want to share their thoughts on religious exemptions? We’d love to hear from you.
Briefly noted
Mountain View United Church held a winter clothing drive last weekend for Afghan refugees stationed at a military base in Wisconsin.
The lay division of St. John Vianney seminary is holding a workshop about St. Joseph at St. Thomas More Church in Centennial on Oct. 30.
Also on Oct. 30, an open house will be held to discuss a new Catholic high school that will open next year in the Rosedale Neighborhood of Denver.
The Episcopal Church in Colorado raises an alarm about cybercriminals impersonating church employees. “Churches and dioceses across The Episcopal Church and across other denominations have been a target of these impersonation attacks,” it said.
Catholic News Agency reporter Kevin Jones livetweeted Jack Posobiec’s talk at Colorado Christian University’s Centennial Institute on Monday. Sounds like it was an interesting night.
Colorado Springs group Church Voter Guides is one of the organizations mentioned in a Colorado Sun article about school board races heating up this election season.
Flatirons Community Church has sold a shopping center it owns in Lafayette to a real estate company for $9.725 million, Bizwest reports.
CU Boulder’s Crown Institute is sponsoring a free virtual conversation with the Dalai Lama on Monday Oct. 25 about “cultivating compassion and dignity in schools.”
Student group Valor for Change says that Valor High School has not responded to a list of demands by the group’s deadline and that it will be “moving forward with actions to reduce the harm caused by Valor.”
An apartment building owned by Eben Ezer Lutheran Care Center in Brush caught fire Monday night, according to the ELCA Rocky Mountain Synod’s e-newsletter. No residents were injured but two staff members who went into the building to wake people required medical attention.
Episcopal Church in Colorado bishop Kym Lucas will participate in an online conversation on Wednesday Oct. 27 with The Episcopal Church’s four other black female bishops.
“Have Faith, Colorado” is a weekly roundup and analysis of local religion articles in the Centennial State founded by Liam Adams and Carina Julig and written by Carina Julig. To submit tips, questions and comments about the newsletter or to inquire about contributing, email carina.julig@colorado.edu.