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Church janitor beaten, apparently because pastor preached against Episcopal Church's gay bishop
It's a rather silly convention of news reporting that three similar incidents make a trend. Slate.com has been doing some fine deflating of trend stories lately, including a debunking of Newsweek's report on suburban teen prostitution.

But normally the media are pretty quick to jump on certain trend stories, especially where hate crimes are concerned. Witness, for example, the media blitz on anti-Muslim hate crimes after 9/11—something that wasn't as epidemic as Muslim advocacy groups would like you to think.

But Weblog still isn't seeing mainstream coverage of the attacks against orthodox clergy who opposed the confirmation of gay Episcopal bishop Gene Robinson.

This week saw story number three, which gives the green light to a possible trend story. Richard Bilski, the part-time janitor of the nondenominational Church on the Rise in Westlake, Ohio, was taking out the trash when three men came up and demanded to know when Pastor Paul Endrei was arriving.

"I'm the janitor, not the timekeeper," he responded.

At that, reports The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, "One man berated him with obscenities and another struck him in the face with a tennis racket. Bilski said the trio also punched him and tore off his shirt as a fourth man looked on. He suffered cuts and bruises to his face, arms, hands and ribs." Another report said the men used lead gloves.

As his attackers left, one shouted, "This is a message for Pastor Paul."

Both Bilski and Endrei are convinced that the attack was retaliation for Endrei's August 10 sermon in which he opposed Robinson's confirmation. "I told the congregation, 'The Gospel according to Gene Robinson is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ,'" he told The Plain Dealer. "We love the homosexual, but we hate the sin."

Then it should be no surprise that he was beaten, gay-themed radio talk show host Buck Harris told the paper. "If they don't preach tolerance, they are preaching violence," he said.

That's right. According to Harris, it's all Endrei's fault that Bilski was beaten up. Gotta love these culture wars.

At least in Bilksi's case made a major American newspaper, unlike attacks against Church of Kenya Bishop Simon Oketch and the Church of the Holy Spirit in Graham, Texas.

More on the aftermath of Episcopal gay bishop confirmation:

• Schism proponents could lose Episcopal property | Opposed to the church's approval of an openly gay bishop, conservative leaders of the Episcopal Church have threatened to form their own splinter group. But by doing so, conservatives risk losing their churches, which are owned by the dioceses, not the individual congregations (All Things Considered, NPR)
  
  
• The debate goes on | Episcopal votes on gays send shock waves across Christendom (The Commercial Appeal, Memphis, Tenn.)
  
  
• How will Episcopal church weather controversy? | Episcopal leaders and congregations consider options after turbulent convention (The Dallas Morning News)
  
  
• Episcopal policies don't play well in Peoria | For the Episcopal bishop of Quincy, the church's national convention in Minneapolis this month capped what he considers a gradual takeover of the American church by the champions of political correctness, in spite of bedrock Scripture (Chicago Tribune)
  
  
• Religious leaders divided on appointment of openly gay bishop |The Episcopal Church confirmed its first openly gay bishop last week. What are your thoughts on this? (Daily Pilot)
  
  
• Pastors in quandary over pro-gay stand | The choice: Follow your conscience and leave the church (and along with it free lodging and a good chunk of your retirement account) or remain pastor and live in a state of protest (The Cincinnati Post)
  
  

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August (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47