By José Dominguez, September 24, 2020 — My intention to be in front of the Catholic Cathedral of Philadelphia was to make a facade ink sketch, which I did, but it also allowed me to witness many beautiful human scenes of people playing, eating, chanting, dancing, relaxing, and in general, plainly enjoying life. Some people asked me if I was an artist and told them that I was a professional and accomplished beginner. One young man, impressed by my way of trying to grasp the quality of the image, asked me if I had a website to see my artistic work. A vivid senior lady that was dancing and praying was very interested in my drawing. I asked her what she was doing and told me that she and her friends were praising God and she turned her arms to the sky and moved them around meaning that God was everywhere. Her expression under the wrinkled face revealed a joyful lady full of life regardless of age.
A few minutes later, I heard a young and strong voice that distracted me from my endeavor. It was a young man about 30 years old, his body [was] strong and [he was a] skinhead. When I saw a big flexible book in his left hand, I didn’t mind assuming that he was a Christian practicing his faith among infidels. Then I noticed that when any person entered by the main door to the Cathedral, his voice changed becoming louder and sententious. It was until a woman parishioner stopped her entrance at the middle of the main street stairs and turning herself towards the young speaker began a kind of dialog yelling and pointing with her finger to the Bibleman when noticed that he was not saying nice things. Curious about the meaning of the confrontation dropped the drawing and paid attention.
He said: “Your Eucharist is a profanity, your priest a sacrilege, your Bible a blasphemy, your mass a blasphemy, the hell is waiting for all of you unless you repent and fallow the true Jesus that is here,” and he waved the big book as a flag.
The lady screaming answered in the same tone “Apply the sacred word, don’t use it to transmit hate.” The young man continued indifferently sending Biblical messages and bursts of the same non-friendly calcifications when some other Catholics went to church. Profoundly distracted, I decided to finish my drawing. [As I walked] near to the young man, I witnessed the repetition of the same routine almost word by word, nothing new.
Minding my own business, I returned home thinking: What was the purpose of the young bible man? If he tried to spread Jesus’ message, he never said anything convincing, attractive, or impressive. If Jesus’ message is love, there was not a single lovable word in his discourse. And at the end, what right has any person, including myself, to convince another about how to be righteous?