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So many of us are in need of the patron saint of crazy

Yesterday was my feast day, or, as the Italians call it, my onomastico.

YESTERDAY was my feast day, or, as the Italians call it, my onomastico. Since I live in the United States, it went completely unnoticed. Had I lived in Italy, however, I would have been showered with cards and phone calls. That's because about 75 percent of the paesani are named after saints, and the other 25 percent are named "Sal," which is short for "Salvatore," which means savior. I think you can see why Italian obstetricians also need theological degrees before they're admitted to practice medicine.

My patron was one of those Christian martyr chicks who died a virgin. This is evidence that it was an awful lot easier to become a saint in the olden days, when having a hard time getting a date for Saturday night put you on the fast track to canonization. That's actually not fair to St. Chris, who suffered mightily for her faith in the third century. Her father, a crafty politician, wanted Christine to become a "pagan princess" (he must have been a secular humanist) but she refused, and was tortured for her devotion to the true faith. As the story goes, she was speared by hooks, grilled by fire, assaulted by snakes, pierced by arrows, placed in a furnace, tied to a millstone and forced to listen to Miley Cyrus songs on a loop. (OK, I'm not certain about the millstone.)

Eventually, she died, and made it into the litany of martyrs. Ironically, she is the protector of those who suffer from mental illness, which raises the question: If your father turns you into a human shish kebab, why are you the patron saint of crazy?

And, yes, I am fully aware that some of you might be thinking I should be praying a little harder for her intercession, given my political and social views.

But frankly, I'm not the only one. Lately, it seems as if so many of us are mentally diseased and should be dropping to our knees seeking St. Christine's assistance.

Most obvious and egregious are those misguided fools who think that Israel bears equal responsibility with Hamas for the carnage in Gaza. To hear some tell it, Israel's insistence upon defending itself against a barrage of missiles is proof positive that it wants to annihilate the Palestinian people when the opposite is true: Hamas is using its own gullible citizens to act as human shields, urging women and children to remain in Gaza so that their bones and blood can be sacrificed for a political vendetta.

The truly insane aspect of this situation is the fact that an overwhelming majority, nearly 80 percent of the population, support Hamas and its animating principle: the destruction of Israel. Israel is not blameless in this generational battle, due to her insistence on pursuing illegal settlements. But this is so far outweighed by the Palestinian bloodlust for Israeli heads that there can never be a moral equivalency between a state that sacrifices its people for contested lands and a government that warns its enemy civilians to flee before conducting bombing raids against them.

Closer to home, we have the madness of those who, angry about breached or threatened national borders, mock people of conscience who try and follow the dictates of their faith. As the Supreme Court showed us in the recent Hobby Lobby victory, deeply held principles based on a belief in God deserve respect at all levels of society. One of the principles that crosses and connects all of the great religions is compassion for the weak. When Glenn Beck channels his Mormon faith and gathers convoys of food and clothing for foreign children at the border, he is entitled to - if not applause - at least respectful silence. When Cardinal Tim Dolan follows the great Catholic principle of being "my brother's keeper," he's ridiculed by Ann Coulter, a self-styled "nondenominational Christian," for his efforts. Ann is entitled to her opinions, and I am entitled to think they are signs of a misanthropic pathology.

Don't get me wrong, you can have earnest and legitimate opposition to granting status to these children. But making fun of those who want to alleviate their pain? Madness.

Political disagreements are not a sign of mental disease. (Unless you think Anthony Weiner or Eliot Spitzer have a future as anything other than punch lines. Then, my friend, a lobotomy is in order.)

But looking at Israelis as the aggressors in a dirty war, and rooting for immigrant kids to go hungry and feel the full effects of our righteous anger (when they've felt far worse in their home countries) is wrong. And, frankly, sick.

St. Christine has her work cut out for her.