[Announce] Infant found in manger, police and social services investigatign

[Robert Waldrop]

Well, this is going around the internet this AM.  I hope everyone has a blessed and very Merry Christmas, and that the GLORY OF THE LORD shines round about all of us.

Bob Waldrop, Romero Catholic Worker House and Epiphany Church, Oklahoma City

Infant found in Manger--Police and Social Services Investigating 

Carpenter and underage mother arrested

(AP) Bethlehem

In the early morning hours, police and Social Services were alerted
by a concerned citizen who discovered a family living in a stable.

When Social Services workers and police officers arrived at the
scene, they found an infant, which had been wrapped in cloth strips
and placed in a manger by his 14-year-old mother, a Mary H. of
Nazareth. 

During the arrest of the mother, a man later identified as Joseph
H., also of Nazareth, tried to interfere with the work of the
officials. Joseph, supported by three shepherds and three
unidentified foreign nationals, tried to prevent the removal of the
child, but was stopped by police officers, who tasered him into
compliance.

Also arrested were the three unknown foreign nationals, who
identified themselves as "wise men" from "a Middle Eastern country."
Homeland Security and Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents are
looking for clues regarding the identity of the three foreigners,
who appear to be in the country illegally. A police spokesman said
that the three carried no identification of any kind, but that
immigration officials confiscated undisclosed amounts of gold and
possible illicit substances under federal asset forfeiture
provisions. The suspects resisted arrest and told police that God
had directed them to go home and avoid all contact with authorities.
The confiscated chemicals were sent to a police laboratory for
further analysis.

Police declined to identify the current location of the infant. A
fast resolution of the case seems to be doubtful. Upon further
questioning, a Social Services official commented:

"The father is middle-aged, and the mother definitely still a minor.
We are checking with the authorities in Nazareth as to the nature
of their relationship."

Mary H. is in the Bethlehem County Hospital for mental and
psychological examinations. The District Attorney has announced
that she will have to face neglect and child endangerment charges at
the least. Her mental condition is questionable, as she claims to
still be a virgin, and that the child's father is God Himself.

The chief of psychiatry at Bethlehem County released the following
statement:

"It's not my place to question religious belief, but when that
belief leads to the endangerment of a newborn, these people have to
be classified as dangerous. The fact that drugs were
involved--probably distributed by the foreigners present at the
scene--does not inspire confidence in the innocence of the suspects.
I am however confident that all people involved have the potential
to take their place as responsible members of society again in a few
years, given the right treatment."

Finally, the statements of the shepherds to the police suggest that
"a tall man in a white nightgown with wings on his back" ordered
them to go to the stable and celebrate the birth of the child. A
spokesman of the Drug Enforcement Agency stated that "this was just
about the dumbest cover story ever put forward by those doped-up
bearded hippie types."

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