Virgin Mary

This is on the front page of the Johnson City Press:

ELIZABETHTON — A county man pleaded guilty in Sessions Court on Wednesday to a charge of desecration of a venerated object. Police had arrested Daniel Reid Hillman, 25, 303 E. Fifth Ave., Watauga, on the unusual charge after Hillman’s 1996 black Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck collided with a statue of the Virgin Mary on the front lawn of St. Elizabeth’s Catholic Church, 510 W. C St. at 11:15 p.m. Monday.

The truck was unoccupied when police responded. A witness said two men had gotten out of the truck and walked away on Eisenhower Street. The truck was found to be registered to Hillman. Officer Sarah Ellison of the Elizabethton Police Department searched for the men and soon stopped them.

She reported that Hillman admitted he was driving the truck at the time of the collision, admitted to being drunk but said the crash had not occurred because he was impaired but because of his “strong dislike for all organized religion.”

The passenger in the truck, Nathaniel Ray Henson, 26, 631 W. D St., was injured in the crash when his face hit the windshield. He was transported to the emergency room at Sycamore Shoals Hospital for treatment. While Henson was being treated, Officer Shane Darling talked with him.

Darling reported that Henson told him he had been drinking with Hillman at the Lone Star Steakhouse. He said Hillman had been discussing “organized religion” while they were drinking and he spoke of his dislike for it. He said Hillman “just decided to run over the statue.”

Darling charged Henson with public intoxication. Judge John Walton accepted guilty pleas from both men on Wednesday. In addition to the desecration charge, Hillman also pleaded guilty to driving under the influence and a second offense of driving on a revoked license.

My condolences to the members of St. Elizabeth's. My read of the article is that it wasn't just a spur of the moment decision. He decides to do this while drinking at a bar on the other end of town. He dislikes all organized religion so he picks on the one Catholic church in the entire community.

What do you make of this Dr. Jung?

Interesting. This could be the result of anti-Catholic sentiment in this part of the country that is always just under the surface.

As Mary represents the Divine Feminine, he may be acting out hidden rage against his mother or perhaps women in general.


Thank you, Dr. Whatever the case, if you run over people's statues and desecrate religious property, you'll get busted. As it should be.