FBI visits a friend of mine.

So, given there is (I understand) a mandatory 5 years for each burning, should the prosecution go for the full 40 years, or just charge them for one of the burnings?

 

What is hate-crime legislation about? Here's the FBI's definition of a hate crime:

"a criminal offense committed against a person, property or society which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender's bias against a race, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnicity/national origin."

Seems kind of cut and dry to me. If these outstanding members of society are guilty of burning theses churches, they should also be charged with hate crimes. The fact that every church they set fire to was Baptist tells me they targeted that specific denomination. It's easy enough to do a Google search of churches in the B'ham area to know there are many other churches besides Baptist. This just doesn't sound like a matter of convenience.

 

But IF they targeted "churches that were handy to where we were drinking" is that a hate crime? No. If they did specifically have something against Baptists it will come out in the trial.

 

You've got to be kidding me. What possible other reasons could they have for targeting only one denomination? Did they just hate a particular kind of construction or landscaping?

Hey, I forgive them. But as long as there is hate crime legislation, I want it to be used not only when it pertains to crimes against Muslims, Buddhists, etc.; it should also apply when the crimes are directed against Christians.

God will use these fires for his own glory. That, I am sure of. But I don't doubt for a second that Satan was fanning the flames. (pun intended)

 

I agree with the Church Lady's stunt double, except for the God and Satan part.

 

Agreed, but I might rely on the circumstantial evidence that they burned only churches and that all those churches were Baptist.

But it would be interesting to see the distribution of all denominations within the geographical area of the arsons. . . but only if I was defending them.

 

Bullsh@t! WERA races Barber, so I expect you've been to Birmingham. Hardly what I'd consider the rural south. Do a search on Yahoo for churches in Birmingham. My brief search indicated 1999 in Alabama. The largest metro area in AL is Birmingham, where I expect you'll find the largest concentration of churches. There are literally hundreds of churches of denominations other than Baptist. Baptist churches seemed targeted, all right. And I don't point this out because I am a member of a large Baptist church. It is because I am a Christian. If the burned churches were instead Islamic Mosques, there would be a media outcry of hate crime! Now why is that?

Go back and look at what the FBI considers a hate crime and you'll see they clearly disagree with you. The press isn't giving these "kids" very much credit, and their lawyers are saying it was "just a joke that got out of hand". That's because he knows these guys are looking at some pretty serious consequences if the hate crime can be proved. At this point it doesn't look like much of a joke to the rest of the country. I was a pretty wild youth, but at 19-20 years of age, I pretty much knew that burning down churches was a gigantic no-no. These clowns knew what they were doing. 9 Baptist (only) churches is not a matter of coincidence or convenience. I think the truth will come out before long.

 

Here ya go lawyerboy, it's a start for ya. All you have to do is fill in the other churches.

 

How many Mosques did you find in the area?

Unlike the Christian Church...

 

Because Muslims aren't part of the majority in that area and as such are a far more common target for hate crimes? Just guessing mind you..

Btw when I read of a Christian church getting burnt to the ground in India I pretty much assume it's a hate crime until I hear otherwise. But that's because only 3% there are Christians. What percentage in Alabama are Baptist?

 

I didn't look, but the question is irrellevent. Obviously these mental giants didn't have a hard-on for Muslims. I maintain that if only ONE mosque had been burned, there would be a huge media outcry of hate crime.

 

That short-term memory loss thing is tragic...

 

There are 3 in the Tuscaloosa area. That's about the same number as all churches other than Baptist and Methodist.

 

Quick lookup indicates that 53% of the places of worship near Tuscaloosa are Baptist. Just about a 50-50 chance that picking a church at random would be Baptist. I thought it would have been greater.

 

This is turning into a case of reverse-victimization?