No one should burn churches in America. Not African American churches. Not predominantly white churches. Not Jewish synagogues.
Not even Sarah Palin’s former church. Whatever the motivation, it is wrong to burn a church. Arson is an extremely serious crime, and if terrorism or revenge or simply hate were the reasons why someone intentionally set fire to Palin’s former church, that person or person should be prosecuted for a hate crime. And no leniency should be shown to them.
That said, I don’t remember this kind of outrage ( read the comments here) from the right blogosphere when poisonous fumes were pumped into a Mosque in Ohio during worship there, an attack which sickened many children and adults, and which was clearly connected to the hate video that two extremist right wing funded groups distributed during the election campaign in various states. Nor do I recall all that much concern by conservatives for the bombings domestic right wing Christian terrorist Eric Rudolph carried out against an abortion clinic and a gay nightclub. Or the shootings at the “liberal” Unitarian Universalist church in Knoxville, Tennessee earlier this year, where the shooter clearly had been inspired to act by inflammatory writings and hate speech by right wing talk radio hosts preaching hatred against liberals.
So the concern here appears a tad selective in my opinion. Violence should never be an option as a means of resolving political disputes. It would help if those who have cheered on violence against people on the left side of the political spectrum acknowledged the log in their own eye, before condemning “liberals” and “lefties” for the attack on the church in Wasilla, especially before any facts about the arsonists who perpetrated this heinous crime are known.
The article, as opposed to the headline, only says the fire is “being investigated as an arson.” If it was indeed the result of intention, one has to wonder whether it was not the publicity, but the subsequent lack of it, that provided the motivation. Anyway, no real story here.
ATF has joined the investigation. I assume they wouldn’t put resources into this unless they had a firm basis for believing it was arson.
It doesn’t matter if there is evidence or not. It doesn’t matter if people see the coffee pot erupt, the decrepit ceiling panel collapse, the tree fall through the wing, the lights spark and fail. It will be investigated as potential arson. ALL church fires are investigated as possible arson!
Real detectives know the melting point of metals and can track the path of flames. If it was arson, which I strongly doubt, we won’t know until after a team of experts has examined the site and questioned all witnesses about what they saw, heard, smelled.
Was the building heated with propane? Was there leaking gas? Was there a barrel of snake oil or stash of incense or other flammable in a storeroom? Was somebody cooking and left a pot untended? What was in their trashcans? Paper plates and tobacco ashes? Was the building properly grounded?
Looking at the outside back wall… cheap, shoddy, bleak… I have to wonder how the reverend shithead anointer can claim a million dollars damage in the rear rooms. Maybe if it was the altar or broadcast system of a megachurch, there’d be something worth claiming on an insurance form, but storerooms and kitchens in the back tend to be furnished with junk.
Until and unless they find an accelerant, or determine the origin of the fire, I’m going with the usual faulty wiring cause.
If this was a hate crime, one would torch the front areas to make a statement. Targeting the pulpit would target the preacher, targeting the altar would violate the religion, targeting the congregation would certainly show hatred of a group. If one wanted to remove the structure (crazy developer with better ideas for the land, or taxpayer wanting something productive on that block), one would set the fire in the wee hours of the morning, so that the building would be totally destroyed before the fire department arrives. Also, one probably wouldn’t do it in midwinter, when everything including the roof is too soggy to burn.
Just because the MSM breathlessly milks this story to sell ads and Palin strives to keep the limelight, why should we repeat their falsehoods?
Until and unless there is a determination of arson by competent detectives, why don’t we reasonable people wait for proof of a crime?
The reverend will claim arson, to garner attention and insurance money. Nobody will care if frayed wiring or kitchen accident was the real cause.
ATF says evidence of accelerant found at site of church.
Well that rules her out……Did anyone actually see her in Juneau?
well said.
Is it her former church, or her current one?
Former
Selective outrage. That’s nothing new from the wingnut side of the aisle.
Anytime that anyone commits an act where innocent people could die it is obvious that it should be resoundingly condemned by everyone. Unfortunately, much of the right wing noise machine actually encourages and cheers violence.
So no one should be surprised at the obvious dichotomy with regard to this event. Cause you’re either with us or against us, right?
Nor should people be surprised when the stuff they put our comes back to them. What goes around comes around kind of thing. It works with both good and bad things. Perhaps, the bubba heads and the talk radio morons should take this concept to heart.
Well Don, we all know that they will never take it to heart. Because in their minds, killing those with whom they disagree isn’t just a good thing, it is a requirement. And what we saw occurring at the Sarah Palin rallies during the campaign was not an aberration. It was a very public glimpse into their world view.
I agree and may I add, Mike, that their world view is a scary thing, indeed. It’s like Darwin in reverse and instead of evolution we may well get devolution. Will the most unfit survive? Will these incredibly narrow minded and restricted people be able to adapt to our rapidly changing world or will they become simply extinct? If the latter, I don’t think they will go without a fight which battle may do extensive damage to this frail culture of ours.
I have a feeling this is an insurance type scam. Palin’s church is going to come back to embarrass her again. If she can be embarrassed.
Although possibly witches set the fire. Since the church invited their nemesis Reverand Muthee to speak.
Yes, one must always watch out for those witches, and warlocks too.
Witches????…..Mmmmmm, that could be. Or it could have been Bill Ayers doing it in an attempt to deflect attention from the rising Obama-Blagojevich connection that the right wing is so studiously trying to knit together.
Plus, the wingnuts would say Ayers is probably just boning up on his firebombing skills in anticipation of using them in his pending Cabinet duties. He needs the practice, ya’ know. He’s probably rusty.
Man…I’m finding that thinking like a wingnut is easy! I don’t have to be constrained by annoying things like logic or facts. Just say it and it’s true. What a gig!! I think I’ll start a righty blog.
Well, now then. If the arsonist weighs the same as a duck………..
Just sayin’