I hope I'm not the only one disturbed by this.

An article on KSL entitled, "Man arrested for assault after saved seats taken at church" documents a recent violent episode that occurred during and after church in Utah. Here's the coverage in the Salt Lake Tribune.

An altercation over saved seats in the chapel turned into a physical argument where blows were exchanged and one individual hit the other with a vehicle.

From the article:
"(Dodge) ended up throwing a couple of punches and striking this individual. He had some blood coming from his face, so he went inside the church to clean up. And when he exited the church, (Dodge) was in his car. I guess there was another confrontation," Lowther said.
Investigators say Dodge then hit the man with his vehicle.
"Ultimately, the victim ended up on the hood of the car," he said. "(Dodge) exited the vehicle and some other people that attended the church service restrained him. And I don't know how, but he ultimately ended up in the bishop's office until law enforcement arrived."
Is there any precedent for this sort of behavior? I think there is in Alma 1:
9 Now, because Gideon withstood him with the words of God he was wroth with Gideon, and drew his sword and began to smite him. Now Gideon being stricken with many years, therefore he was not able to withstand his blows, therefore he was slain by the sword.
22 Nevertheless, there were many among them who began to be proud, and began to contend warmly with their adversaries, even unto blows; yea, they would smite one another with their fists.

If the violence was entirely one-sided, I might be persuaded to believe this is an isolated incident unlikely to be repeated. However, it wasn't. You will have to draw your own conclusions.

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