In the reality based community, when you've got a problem, you call an expert with some skills and training to deal with it. In the rest of the world, you call a priest to blame evil spirits and do nothing for a small pile of money. How else to explain asking a wizened old Catholic priest to explain 'perversions' and STDs?

Promiscuity, as well as homosexuality and pornography, says 73 year-old Fr. Jeremy Davies, is a form of sexual perversion and can lead to demonic possession. Offering what may be an explanation for the explosion of homosexuality in recent years, Fr. Davies said, "Among the causes of homosexuality is a contagious demonic factor."

Fr. Davies continues: "Even heterosexual promiscuity is a perversion; and intercourse, which belongs in the sanctuary of married love, can become a pathway not only for disease but also for evil spirits."

The hurricane did not by itself destroy Holy Ground. Except for that one damaged corner, the building still stood, firm on its foundation. Acting on behalf of the pastor, volunteers from the Common Ground Relief group tore out the sodden drywall, leaving the wooden frame intact, ready in Mr. Adams’s opinion for restoration. The city itself rated the structure as salvageable.

Then came the second calamity, this one entirely manmade.

On Oct. 17, 2006, without having reached Mr. Adams, much less received his consent, the city issued a demolition permit for the house of God, at 2223 Lizardi Street. By the time the pastor found out a few days later what had happened, there was nothing left on the site except a patch of the front walk and a cinderblock embedded in the soil.

Of course kids should be able to be kids! I think that this touches on a separate issue as well, one not mentioned in the article. Shouldn’t people have the right to sell the food that they produced on their (albeit small) piece of land? How does a roadside veggie stand devalue our neighborhoods? Especially when it is selling organic food much cheaper than one can find in the “super” grocery store. The last question is, what kind of ultra-conformist calls the mayor to complain about an “illegal” activity like this?

But Clayton Mayor Gregory Manning said he first heard of the girls’ operation this past April, after two residents called to ask if it was legal. Two months later, a police officer was sent to the stand to tell the Lewises that the girls were violating zoning regulations that prohibit commercial activities in a residential area.

The stand also violates health regulations, he said, which state that food can’t be sold without a permit.