Posted on 07/09/2005 1:33:01 PM PDT by phoenix_004
A small fire and anti-gay graffiti were found Saturday at a church belonging to the United Church of Christ, a denomination that endorsed same-sex marriage last week. The exterior of St. John's Reformed United Church of Christ also included a message that United Church of Christ members were sinners.
A member of the congregation discovered the graffiti when he stopped by to mow the grass. He found a small fire within the sanctuary. The fire was put out in a few minutes, Lt. Tim McCray said.
A Virginia State Police fire investigator was on the scene Saturday afternoon, but declined to comment.
The fire came a day after two black churches were heavily damaged by seven arson fires in Sparta, Tenn. Authorities said there was no evidence that it was a hate crime, but they were not ruling anything out.
Someone also tried to set fire to a mosque early Saturday in Bloomington, Ind., and the FBI was investigating it as a hate crime.
The United Church of Christ's rule-making body endorsed a resolution July 4 endorsing same-sex marriage. UCC churches are autonomous, meaning the General Synod does not create policy for its more than 5,700 congregations.
Defacing a church because they support gays doesn't solve anything, sigh.
And yuck, I want to vomit at the sight of Bill and Hillary by the way.
Doing evil in the sight of God doesn't bode well.
Clearly a HATE CRIME.
Funny how the churches of the people who founded and defined America have all turned leftist. After all, the UCC is a direct descendant of the New England Puritan Congregationalist churches. The Episcopalians and the Presbuterians are not far behind the UCC.
I disagree with setting fires or committing acts of vandalism, but they certainly deserve to be confronted for trying to pervert Christianity.
Good points.
You're right. Setting fire to a church is a cowardly act. I think the solution is for congregations to withdraw from the UCC.
this may well turn out to be a hoax by some liberal - Lord knows it's happened before. But even if this was a genuine attack by someone displeased by the UCC's actions, there is no way that this can be condoned. I am deeply troubled to see fellow FReepers reacting so positively to this crime. I would expect behavior like that from the creatures over at the DUmp, but not here. Flouting the rule of law and destruction of private property is not the conservative way.
If this crew is anything like the UCC people I have known and been associated with in the past, it is a highly suspicious occurrence. What does "a small fire in the sanctuary" that can be put out in a few minutes, discovered by someone who had no reason to be in the sanctuary, suggest to others? This account doesn't add up.
That's the good/bad thing about free speech, we can disagree with what other people say, but they still get to say it. The overall reaction seems to be anti-arson/anti-grafitti, which is what I would expect. It's certainly what I'd hope to hear from FReepers.
later pingout and I wonder if it was self-perpetrated hate crime as so many are?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.