ENTREVILLLE, Alabama (AP) -- A series of fires damaged six rural Alabama churches overnight, and investigators Friday were trying to determine whether they were arson.
Most of the churches were Baptist, located near major highways, and all but one were in Bibb County, about 25 miles south of Birmingham.
The other church, in Chilton County, had been undergoing construction, which could have been a source of the fire, said Ragan Ingram, a spokesman for the state insurance agency that oversees fire investigations. That church, New Harmony Baptist in Fairview, was destroyed.
No arrests had been made Friday morning.
In 1996, race was a factor in a series of arsons that damaged rural black churches in Alabama and elsewhere. But Ingram said the fires late Thursday and early Friday destroyed both the churches of predominantly black congregations and predominantly white congregations.
The Ashby Baptist Church in Brierfield and Rehobeth Baptist Church in Randolph both burned to the ground.
Jim Parker, a member of the Ashby Baptist Church, told WBRC television in Birmingham that he understood the fire began near the pulpit and that the fires at other churches had a similar pattern.
The pastor of Old Union Baptist, the Rev. David Hand, said a fire at his church, also in Brierfield, was discovered about 4:30 a.m. (5:30 ET) and extinguished before it could cause serious damage.
Ingram said the two other churches are in Antioch and near Centreville. It wasn't immediately clear how seriously they were damaged.
_________________ I remember doing nothing on the night Sinatra died
And the night Jeff Buckley died
And the night Kurt Cobain died
And the night John Lennon died
I remember I stayed up to watch the news with everyone
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ranting in e-minor wrote:
Jim Parker, a member of the Ashby Baptist Church, told WBRC television in Birmingham that he understood the fire began near the pulpit and that the fires at other churches had a similar pattern.
Maybe God didn't like what the pastors had been saying.
_________________ Unfortunately, at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the Flower Children jerked off and went back to sleep.
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punkdavid wrote:
ranting in e-minor wrote:
Jim Parker, a member of the Ashby Baptist Church, told WBRC television in Birmingham that he understood the fire began near the pulpit and that the fires at other churches had a similar pattern.
Maybe God didn't like what the pastors had been saying.
Pat Robertson says it's because the congregations didn't hate gays enough.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Jim Parker, a member of the Ashby Baptist Church, told WBRC television in Birmingham that he understood the fire began near the pulpit and that the fires at other churches had a similar pattern.
Maybe God didn't like what the pastors had been saying.
Pat Robertson says it's because the congregations didn't hate gays enough.
That's sorta, almost funny. No wait, it just plain is funny.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:14 am Posts: 37778 Location: OmaGOD!!! Gender: Male
To be serious for once, the fact that the fires were started near the pulpits is an obvious sign or arson, and most likely that it was based in religious hatred. The person who did this was wrong and should be punished.
_________________ Unfortunately, at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the Flower Children jerked off and went back to sleep.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
punkdavid wrote:
To be serious for once, the fact that the fires were started near the pulpits is an obvious sign or arson, and most likely that it was based in religious hatred. The person who did this was wrong and should be punished.
The fact that it started in six churches in one day wasn't a sign of arson?
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:14 am Posts: 37778 Location: OmaGOD!!! Gender: Male
B wrote:
punkdavid wrote:
To be serious for once, the fact that the fires were started near the pulpits is an obvious sign or arson, and most likely that it was based in religious hatred. The person who did this was wrong and should be punished.
The fact that it started in six churches in one day wasn't a sign of arson?
Well duh, yeah. But the point I was trying to emphahsize was the "hate crime" aspect of this.
_________________ Unfortunately, at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the Flower Children jerked off and went back to sleep.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
broken_iris wrote:
punkdavid wrote:
Well duh, yeah. But the point I was trying to emphahsize was the "hate crime" aspect of this.
Aren't all crimes acts of "hate"?
Sometimes, they're just a crime of wanting shit.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 1:14 am Posts: 37778 Location: OmaGOD!!! Gender: Male
broken_iris wrote:
punkdavid wrote:
Well duh, yeah. But the point I was trying to emphahsize was the "hate crime" aspect of this.
Aren't all crimes acts of "hate"?
C'mon, man. I'm no fan of "hate crime legislation" (just search my name and that subject here to see where I stand), but that's a silly comment. MOST crimes are purely property driven. Many MURDERS even have nothing to do with even so much as DISLIKING the victim, much less hating him.
You know exactly what "hate crime" means. It means it was motivated by racial, ethnic, religious, or some other form of bigotry against a group of which the victim is a member, i.e. the victim is not any "specific target" of the crime, simply a member of a targeted class.
_________________ Unfortunately, at the Dawning of the Age of Aquarius, the Flower Children jerked off and went back to sleep.
Joined: Sun Oct 17, 2004 7:19 pm Posts: 39068 Location: Chapel Hill, NC, USA Gender: Male
Chris_H_2 wrote:
Where do grains, vegetables, and dairy fit into that pyramid?
Chris_H_2 wrote:
Where do grains, vegetables, and dairy fit into that pyramid?
On the days you don't piss me off ... you're pretty fuckin' funny.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
_________________ "Though some may think there should be a separation between art/music and politics, it should be reinforced that art can be a form of nonviolent protest." - e.v.
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