quote:CENTREVILLLE, Ala., Feb. 3 -- A series of fires erupted in isolated churches along rural back roads south of Birmingham early Friday, destroying or damaging five houses of worship in what authorities called an arson case with no discernible motive.
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See, I have no problem if the arsonists put to fire buildings that have no use. Example, crack houses. As anyone that lives in Detroit area knows, this happens every year, on the night before Halloween. Churches have a use, and even though I don't use them, they should be left intact.
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Crack houses have a use too. How would you like it if the only place where you could get your fix was burned down?
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Hang on, what do they mean, 'no discernible motive'? He wanted to burn down some churches. I mean, duh.
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Yeah, it really sucks. I'm just glad nobody got hurt, and I hope all the churches had insurance.
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From what I've seen on the news, the only link is that every church was Baptist. Four of the five were predominantly white congregations, the fifth predominantly African-American. Two of the churches had very old buildings. One of the churches was actually established before Alabama became a state.
Very sad. The FBI is helping investigate. I hope they catch whoever did this, I go to a very old church, 125 years old to be exact, and we have great attachment to our old building, even with all the problems that come with old buildings. It's a very painful thing for many of these people, these are churches in small towns, where generations have attended, in many cases the same church building may have been the location for the weddings of several generations, baptisms of dozens of family members, baby dedications...it's just heartbreaking for them.
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Baptists are so common here that if you picked 5 random churches in rural AL, wouldn't there be a good chance they all were Baptist just from chance alone? That actually could have been unintentional, I would think.
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Very true, Tatiana, Baptist churches are indeed the most common denomination. Not sure if the Baptist thing is a link or random coincidence.
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Four more churches have been burned in Western Alabama. All were Baptist.
Now we've moved beyond coincidence in the denomination, I think. With 9, I think someone is deliberately targeting Baptist churches.
Yes, they are the most common, but they aren't the only type of church in Alabama. For example, my small town with less than 3,000 people in it has a Baptist Church, a Methodist Church, a Presbyterian Church, a Church of God, a Church of Christ and about three or four other non-denominational churches. It's hard to believe that these other small towns aren't the same, and that the only churches to be found were Baptist.
Whatever the motive, I hope the arsonists are caught soon.
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quote:A federal investigator said witness reports and behavioral profilers led authorities to believe that two white men were responsible for the fires. Witnesses said they saw two men in a sport utility vehicle near a number of the fires.
"They're not youths or teens. It's probably someone in their 20s or 30s. We believe they're pretty much inseparable. They're something like bosom buddies," said Eric Kehn, a spokesman for the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency.
Evidence from one of the earlier fires indicates the perpetrators may have been briefly trapped inside the building and may have been hurt, said Jim Cavanaugh, ATF regional director.
Investigators have said they don't know a motive, but there is no racial pattern. Five of the churches had white congregations and five black. All were Baptist, the dominant faith in the region, and mostly in isolated country settings.
quote:Originally posted by Stan the man: See, I have no problem if the arsonists put to fire buildings that have no use. Example, crack houses. As anyone that lives in Detroit area knows, this happens every year, on the night before Halloween. Churches have a use, and even though I don't use them, they should be left intact.
Oh come on now, don't misrepresent. Detroit hasn't had nearly the problems in the last couple years that they've had in the past on Devil's Night. That's exactly the type of stigma/stereotype the city has been trying to erase for the last half decade or more. Detroit, I think as evidenced by the Superbowl, isn't the slum is used to be, and isn't the Detroit everyone has in their minds from just after the riots. The downtown area is actually very nice now.
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