Editorial: Isolated small acts of vandalism challenge communities to embrace larger values

Let's acknowledge from the outset that it is not the community of Arlington Heights that twice vandalized signs at Lutheran Church of the Cross using a Bible verse to show support for the theme that Black Lives Matter.

Nor is it the community of Wheaton that has stolen one similar sign at the dual congregation Hope Presbyterian and Bethel New Life church building, taken an ax to another and set fire to a third expressing support for gay rights.

These are acts of destruction by random individuals - possibly not even from the communities served by those churches at all - and they do not indict anyone beyond the resentful individuals who committed them. But they raise issues, or ought to, that do concern all of us who claim to honor American values.

Perhaps chief among these is the concept of free speech. It is an unfortunate and uncomfortable truth that too often when we think of free speech, we think of our own right to say whatever we believe. We don't immediately realize that the right also implies an obligation to tolerate the reasonable free speech of others. It is disconcerting, at least, to consider that whoever damaged the signs at the churches in Wheaton and Arlington Heights presumably think themselves to be standing up for the principles that make our country great, when in fact they are violating them in an ugly - and, let's acknowledge, cowardly - way.

In these two cases, moreover, the defacement defies two of the Constitution's most sacred protections - freedom of speech and freedom of religion. And the actions are not without disturbing consequences. Church leaders and members in both situations, while emphasizing that they were searching for constructive and compassionate ways to share their message, also clearly acknowledged that the vandalism is intimidating.

"(Posting the signs) was courageous, but it doesn't mean that people always appreciate your courage," said Pastor R. Keith Beauchamp of Bethel New Life's Black congregation. "We (and the white congregation of Hope Presbyterian) celebrated (together) the moment when it was put up and cried when it was torn down because we know what that means."

It is meaning that extends beyond churches and social statements. As we enter an election campaign, we can't escape the knowledge that something as innocuous campaign signs are traditional targets of theft, defacement and destruction. Many people, it seems, have great fear of the free speech that others in our community dare to express.

Stolen campaign signs and defaced Bible verses on church lawns are, of course, small offenses in an atmosphere today that is poisoned with large-scale looting, fires, destruction and death. But, unfortunately, they are born of hatred and fear not unlike that behind those larger attacks on our principles and our security.

Leaders of Hope Presbyterian and Bethel New Life plan to meet soon to figure out next steps, much as Lutheran Church of the Cross and fellow congregations from throughout Arlington Heights gathered to modify their messages "to stand for love and compassion for our neighbors, and yet de-escalate the situation," as one church member described their response.

Hope's pastor, Jay Moses, agreed this "can be a transformative moment of self-understanding, of who we really are." He described it as a "mirror" that has been "shattered," as perhaps it is. But the transformation comes in how that mirror is put back together. We'll place our hope in our broader communities, which really do embrace that responsibility.