A burger store in the inner suburb of Caulfield, Victoria, Australia caught fire last Friday* as a result of an as-yet unidentified explosion. The owner Mr Hash Tayeh of Jordanian origin was caught up in a storm of controversy on account of the blaze due to his political views regarding the war in the Holy Land. I assumed the best of him at first, thinking even that he may have been a devout Catholic, considering he started a store with a name that takes its origins from the Catholic doctrine of Purgatory. But, tragically, his enterprise doesn’t hold out to be as noble in faith-terms as it first sounds. It’s one thing to tastefully use Catholic kitch to promote the faith or even use it in fast-food chains to promote a product that aligns itself with an aspect of the Catholic faith such as what McDonald’s did in the early 70s when in the United States, the classic Fillet-O-Fish was introduced for the sake of keeping Catholic customers happy on Fridays and during Lent. And so upon first learning about the burger store called Burgertory a few months back when I went to Caulfield for a sight-seeing tour with three aunts & an uncle from Singapore, it appeared to my utter amazement to be something like the McDonald’s original Fillet-O-Fish idea. And so because my aunts & uncles touring are from my dad’s side of the family which btw, is Protestant, we did not venture in there. I am not in the habit of trying to evangelize them into the Catholic faith by such means since they are not open to this. Anyhow, they are the kinds of people who much prefer to eat Asian cuisine wherever and whenever possible. But that’s the context of my first encounter with this burger outlet called “Burgertory”. So I didn’t really know what the store was like inside. From the exterior, seeing the angels and Purgatory theme, it just made me think of a Catholic themed foodary with kitch style decor and of course, I innocently presumed the owners or managers must have been Catholic and wanted to promote fast-food using their faith as a means to positively satisfy the nuanced fast-food cravings of students from the Prarahn Swinburne College with a light-hearted evangelical touch. Hence my giving Hash Tayeh the benefit of the doubt more or less as soon as I heard the news about the blaze last weekend. But I was absolutely gob-smacked to learn the truth today:
And what a load of! Thanks to the article cited above, I have learnt that this shop owner is promoting a grossly distorted take on Purgatory. Take a look at this hideous snapshot:
In Roman Catholic theology, Purgatory is a place in the afterlife where people go to be purified from their sins, not the other way around! To promote this distorted and fallacious idea of Purgatory as being a place where people indulge in sins is outrageous and a blatant lie concerning Catholic doctrine. The whole thematic of this burger chain should be challenged and made to be brought in line with theological truth or else it should be forced to close on the grounds that it is promoting a grossly distorted and irreverent misunderstanding of Catholicism.
Might I add that it wouldn’t surprise me if Mr Hash Tayeh is a non-practicing Catholic of the Melkite tradition because this frivolization of cultural/religious tradition is common amongst lapsed or apostate Catholics. And I guess Melkite, because that is a popular variant of Catholicism practiced in numerous Middle Eastern countries. Shame on him for posing in such a irreverent way and publicizing theologically incorrect assumptions. And if he really cares about Peace for Palestine, Peace in the Holy Land, then it is time he cleans up his act regarding how he promotes theological ideas specific to a religious grouping known for its custodial presence in Palestine across the centuries.
And I don’t exactly think that the blaze in this store was actually arson. It could very well have been caused by a faulty gas cylinder in the kitchen. While I am anti-war and totally believe in a ceasefire to the troubles in the Holy Land, I do not agree that Mr Tayeh was promoting the understanding of Purgatory in a culturally sensitive way. As I already stated, he was misappropriating a certain Catholic theological doctrine and sadly mis-representing it. This is causing confusion in the public eye. Culture & religion ought not to be irreverently misused for public entertainment. This is contrary to being a messenger of peace.
Btw, the fact that I’m pointing this out is in no way an indication that I think the store burning down was ‘wonderful’ as some internet trolls have beligerently stated regarding the incident. I am not an internet troll or someone in favour of arson. I think it’s atrocious to think that people behave like jerks by setting places on fire when there are better ways to get your point across than acting maliciously. That said, I’m inclined to believe the fire could have had causes unrelated to a criminal arson attack. It is not uncommon from time to time to hear of the odd kitchen fire in restaraunts here & there. I think those businesses need to do more quality control checks relative to the operation of their kitchen maintenance. In fact, the state government ought to make safety and quality-control auditing of cafes and restaraunts a mandatory in the food & beverage/hospitality sector.
Other References:
Keywords:
Purgatory, Theological, Doctrinal, Palestine, Holy Land, Melkite, Lent, Kitch, Evangelical, Burgertory Caulfield VIC, Fast-Food
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