Today, on the feast of St. Nicholas, who was famously imprisoned for punching a heretic, the more severe charge of second-degree manslaughter was dropped against Marine Daniel Penny. Like the 4th century bishop and like Christ Himself, Penny knew that physical “violence” is sometimes necessary to stop a greater evil from occurring. Unfortunately, that is a truth too many Americans deny or misunderstand now.
Jesus Christ, merciful and loving as He was, did use violence in at least one instance: to cast the corrupt and sacrilegious buyers and the sellers out of the Temple (John 2, Matthew 21, Mark 11, Luke 19). Jesus made a whip, overturned tables, and excoriated the sacrilegious individuals. It is one of the few events that is recounted in all four Gospels and is therefore obviously very significant. The reality that violence is sometimes justified and even necessary is therefore enshrined in the Gospels, and that is something that the ancient saint whose feast is today and a modern Marine on the New York subway both understood. Unfortunately, they were both persecuted for living out the truth by those who did not understand it or did not want to understand it.
St. Nicholas was one of the most important Catholic saints for centuries, and he is still hugely significant for Byzantine Catholics and Orthodox Christians. In the West, most people now know him as Santa Claus (from the Dutch for ‘St. Nicholas’). He was a Lycian who in the 4th century was a bishop and miracle worker in Myra.
According to other traditions St. Nicholas was not only there during the Council of Nicaea in 325, but [he gave] the [blasphemous] heresiarch Arius a slap in the face. The conciliar fathers deprived him of his episcopal insignia and committed him to prison; but [Jesus Christ] and His Mother appeared there and restored to him both his liberty and his office.
As against Arianism so against paganism, St. Nicholas was tireless and often took strong measures: among other temples he destroyed was that of Artemis, the principal in the district, and the evil spirits fled howling before him [many early Christian accounts describe demons as possessing pagan temples and being exorcized by saints]. He was the guardian of his people as well in temporal affairs.
Related: Lessons from the Fighting Bishop St. Nicholas (Who Became Santa Claus)
Today is the feast of St. Nicholas, the bishop who brought young people presents, worked miracles—and slapped a heretic! pic.twitter.com/D1ug8KqNdk
— Catherine Salgado (@CatSalgado32) December 6, 2024
Daniel Penny did not slap or punch anyone, as Nicholas did, but he did place serial criminal and drug addict Jordan Neely in a non-lethal headlock. Neely, who had been arrested 44 times previously and for whom an arrest warrant was out at the time of his death, subsequently died, likely from the drugs in his system, combined with pre-existing health conditions. Neely had committed assault and attempted child abduction; he was homeless and perpetually committing a new crime. Then one day, his threatening words and aggressive actions against passengers on the New York subway caused the young Marine Penny to try and restrain him — not kill him — with a headlock.
Related: Expert: Daniel Penny Didn’t Kill Jordan Neely
Neely still had a pulse when police officers arrived — Penny didn’t choke him to death. What Penny did was protect himself and other people from a dangerous criminal. Yet for that, woke leftists are trying to destroy his life, and even though the more serious charge against him has thankfully been dropped, he still faces a criminally negligent homicide charge. Also, Neely‘s father, who evidently didn’t want his criminal son living with him while he was alive, is now suing Penny.
BREAKING: The mansl*ughter charge against Daniel Penny has been dismissed.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) December 6, 2024
The jury is done for the day and will return on Monday.
"I'll take a chance and grant the people's application," Judge Wiley said following the prosecution's request to dismiss the mansl*ughter charge.… pic.twitter.com/5cQFlKPTBH
Let us pray that Jesus Christ Who used a whip to drive evil men out of the Temple and Who appeared to St. Nicholas to affirm the justness of his attack on Arius will also be with Daniel Penny. As Christ restored to Nicholas his liberty from prison, may Christ ensure that Penny is set free. After all, it is an undeniable truth that violence can be justified and praiseworthy, as our Founding Fathers knew when they launched the Revolution to found our nation, and Jesus Christ promised (John 8:32), “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
