Photo and blog post by John Hoff
I took the photo above a couple weeks before I left Minneapolis for a military base in Mississippi, which was my jumping off point for Afghanistan. I am not sure of the exact location of this "thug memorial" though it was a few blocks north of Lowry, and a few blocks east of Lyndale Ave. N.
I think. If memory serves.
I also don't know who was the victim (of likely thug-on-thug violence) memorialized in the wet pile of funereal goodies.
I do know that not one but TWO Bibles were left in the sloppy mess. The first one is visible...
...to the left of the white teddy bear. Note the wet pages bent back at the corner.
Yup, that's a Bible. What's left of it.
There is another small orange Gideon Bible in the upper left of the photo. However, to be completely fair and accurate, it's likely that's not an ENTIRE Bible, just the New Testament.
Maybe with the Books of Psalms and Proverbs thrown in.
It seems fair and accurate to say if the person memorialized here had tried to live by the Bible...even the small orange one...he may have avoided evil companions who cause one's downfall.
Like the Book of Proverbs says in, well, SEVERAL passages.
But what purpose did the Bible serve in this person's life? In the life of the individuals who created this so-called "memorial?"
The Bible is a decorative object, not a holy book. So it's perfectly fine to leave it in the rain. It's like Madonna in the 1980s, wearing a rosary across her bare midriff. It's just a decorative object to her. There's no invocation of GOD in this memorial pictured above. The rain-soaked Bibles mean no more than the rain-soaked teddy bear.
Thug memorials need to be quickly removed from our neighborhoods. Thug memorials are offensive on so many levels, from the glorification of gang lifestyle choices to the casual endorsements of minor drinking via bottles of booze left beneath the names of slain children.
But, as though we needed more, here is another level of offensiveness.
Bibles left in the rain.
8 comments:
34th and dupont. some knuckleheads were running from someone and got shot there in the driveway. I thought cemeteries were for this. There needs to be a law against this. Littering is what I call it.
The level of disrespect you have for the victims of violence in north Minneapolis is disgusting.
Your racist attitude is overwhelming.
Does anybody have the name of the individual killed at 34th and Dupont so I can link to some articles, etc?
To the poster above...
So you don't actually have any substantive thoughts on "The Holy Bible As A Decorative Object At A Rain-Soaked Thug Memorial"?
Thirst things first, this area is cursed. Cursed with idiots who always, at the slightest fucking chance, jump at the oppurtunity to call a white guy a racist even though race is not mentioned which leaves me to assume that you, anonameass 11:39, likes to throw around racist assumations. It ain't about race,fellow bitches and bastards, and it ain't about the so-called sanctity of a fictional, and extremely violent book called the Bible. It is about you bumbling ass fools who like to go around shooting each other because you cowardly fucks couldn't fight your way out of a wet paper bag or bust a fucking grape. You have a man dodging bullets, I.E.D.s, and a bunch of lunatic "Religous" zealots and you anonameasses are always trying to pin the scarlet letter of racism on his billboard-like forehead (just jokin', John). Like there should be fucking term limits for all of the pieces of shit that hold public office, there should be an automatic five year sentence with no parole for all of you spineless, jello- brained miscreants who carry unlicensed artillery. As i have stated, skin pigmentation is a figmentation of your indoctrinated imagination. I say indoctrinated because that is what happened between the time we were spit and violently ripped from the womb until our little pea brains were told what to believe....which myth. I heard the only difference between a psycho and a preacher is that they hear different voices telling them who to harm. Nature made us all;not the gods of religion. Religion is all bunk and all there books are man-made.Opening my eyes to the real world, a world stripped of dogmatic dementia and blind ass faith, and seeing all of you fools arguing who gets to live for eternity, made me realize that ya' fucking better enjoy it here and do as much as you can for your fellow human beings because you are not going to get another chance while assuming your roles as human entities. Good Evening.
I am a person who moved from agnosticism to fanatical faith, then mellowed out, keeping the faith but becoming more an open minded "spiritual person."
So I understand the "no faith but faith in oneself and one's own personal responsibility" point of view quite well.
Even if one doesn't believe in the Bible, deliberately leaving one out in the elements is an act many agnostics would avoid because it is shockingly disrespectful to people of faith, and most people of faith are decent folks.
Not knowing who the thug was who got killed at this spot, I made no assumption about race. That assumption was made by the anonymous commenter.
As much as I dont like Mr. Hoff, I do respect the fact that he's posting about these ridiculous memorials all over northside. And I'm amazed at the disrespect to MY FREEDOMS that these thugs give to me. I could care less about the race of these idiots, just quit acting like feral animals. BE GOOD, BE GONE, OR BE DEAD!
http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/100726614.html?source=error Or at the startribune site enter : dupont shooting.
Time to make a water proof Bible to withstand weather.
www.HolyBibleSearch.net
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