Remember the Virgin of the Underpass? Well, the image was defaced with shoe polish, then the police had it painted over with brown paint. But happily some volunteers have restored it to its pristine condition.

According to the AP,

A man had scrawled the words "Big Lie" in shoe polish on the image Thursday night, and authorities charged Victor Gonzalez of Chicago with criminal damage to state-supported property, a misdemeanor.

Gonzalez, 37, told relatives he believed visitors were worshipping a graven image in violation of the Second Commandment, said Mandy Gonzalez, who identified herself as Gonzalez's niece.

I'm going to hazard a guess here that Mr. Gonzalez is one of those souls whom the evangelicals (or more likely, the pentacostalists) have won over from the Roman Catholics.

Right-wing Catholics really don't realize what they're in for if the right-wing Protestants get their theocracy. Just because their Protestant counterparts don't wear condoms and oppose abortion doesn't mean they're compatible above the waist. The more irreligious among us may have to move to Northern Ireland just to get some peace.

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Another spotting of the Virgin (4/20/05)