LDS man charged with arson in church fires

Salt Lake Tribune ^ | Nov. 5, 2010 | Jason Bergreen

[Colofornian]

An LDS church member who claims the Mormon church lied to him was charged Thursday with aggravated arson for allegedly setting fire to two LDS meetinghouses last week.

The two first-degree felony charges were filed against 26-year-old Patrick Adam Ehat in 3rd District Court.

Ehat admitted to investigators he broke into the meetinghouses through windows on Oct. 30 and set the fires because the church had lied to him, the charging documents state. His specific complaints were not mentioned.

A South Salt Lake Fire Department investigator determined that an accelerant was used to start the fire at the church near 3200 South and 300 East, charging documents state. The accelerant was placed on the sacrament table, the podium, an organ and a piano in the chapel.

The same investigator concluded an accelerant was used to start a fire at an LDS meetinghouse near 2700 South and Main Street. That blaze started on a couch, charging documents state.

South Salt Lake firefighters put out the two blazes Saturday morning. The first fire started about 3:30 a.m. Damage was reported to exceed $1 million.

Three hours later, firefighters were called to the LDS church at 2702 S. Main. The fire there caused minor smoke and water damage to the building.

Police said that Ehat had injuries consistent with climbing through a broken window. Police believe he acted alone.

Ehat also is charged with two third-degree felony counts of burglary.

[Colofornian]

From the article: An LDS church member who claims the Mormon church lied to him was charged Thursday with aggravated arson for allegedly setting fire to two LDS meetinghouses last week.

I'm glad nobody was injured (beyond this man's cuts).

'Tis good the perp was caught.

Now...what's this about him being an Lds member who was "lied to" by the Mormon church?

[greyfoxx39]

Ping

[kbennkc]

Now...what's this about him being an Lds member who was "lied to" by the Mormon church?

He should have just made it his life's mission to bash Mormons on Free Republic.

[Saundra Duffy]

“what’s this about him being an Lds member who was ‘lied to’ by the Mormon church?”

The person is apparently an unbalanced criminal with an axe to grind. That’s the story here.

I agree with you that it’s a good thing no one was hurt. However, it must be very upsetting for the good people of those two Wards. This is very sad.

[Saundra Duffy]

You made me laugh (#3). Ha!

[Saundra Duffy]

“He should have just made it his life’s mission to bash Mormons on Free Republic.”

PD - Pinging you to this funny comment by kbennkc.

[Tennessee Nana]

Ehat admitted to investigators he broke into the meetinghouses through windows on Oct. 30 and set the fires because the church had lied to him, the charging documents state. His specific complaints were not mentioned.

______________________________________

Well that happens a lot right here...

The guy's a mormon...

Whatcha expect ???

[colorcountry]

Yes, because pointing out the lies that you were told all your life, that formed your whole life.... is really “bashing” this weak, ineffectual, lying cult. Right?

[Tennessee Nana]

Yes but does he know where your ladder got to ???

[Tennessee Nana]

The person is apparently an unbalanced criminal with an axe to grind.
___________________________________________

Yeah a good follower of Joey Smith ...

“Follow the “prophet” and ya cant go wrong...”

;)

[Tennessee Nana]

OK so wheres my

“You made me laugh (#10). Ha!”

Waiting...

[kbennkc]

Yes, because pointing out the lies that you were told all your life, that formed your whole life.... is really “bashing” this weak, ineffectual, lying cult. Right?

Since some people are so damn dumb as to believe what someone else just "tells" them, it is not a surprise they should not be allowed to play with matches.

[Vigilanteman]

Last time I checked the Mormons were about 2% of the U.S. population and voted overwhelmingly conservative. Most of the places where they are a majority or even substantial minority are well-run, solvent and pleasant places to live. See Idaho and Wyoming in addition to Utah.

And your kind of sniveling boobs were hiding behind a mask of anonimity and siding with the ACLU, CAIR, church burners and other enemies of America in taking cheap shots at them.

[MissesBush]

Yes, because pointing out the lies that you were told all your life, that formed your whole life.... is really “bashing” this weak, ineffectual, lying cult. Right?

Way to defend a crazed arsonist. Ever occur to you this guy might be a nut, as if his actions weren't enough evidence of that, and not someone with a legitimate axe to grind? If one feels they've been lied to, one goes about logically explaining their case and their opinion. You don't commit major felonies to express that. And one doesn't then give credibility to an individual who choses to act out in that way. It's sad the latter statement even needs to be pointed out to you.

[MissesBush]

Yes, because I’m sure no one of your faith has ever gone off the deep end and committed a felony, right? If a Christian commits a crime, does that mean somehow Christ is flawed or that the person is one who chose not to follow Christ in commiting their crime? Food for thought before you chose to smear an entire religion over the acts of one man.

[colorcountry]

Way to defend a crazed arsonist.

Are you dense? I was defending Freepers. I didn't say one thing about this guy.

[MissesBush]

Take a pill and learn to express yourself better. I’m not a mind reader.

[colorcountry]

apparently you can’t understand the flow between statements and responses either.

Look at the post the response is addressing. It usually gives you a clue.

[Paragon Defender]

Seekers of truth,

If you peruse the Free Republic religion forums you will notice a pattern. There's an anti-Mormon group of people here that spends a great deal of their time attacking the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. They post regurgitated propaganda on an almost daily basis.

They have a misguided obsession. You can witness many different tactics employed that you might find quite interesting. The straw man argument is a big favorite and is frequently preceded by cherry-picking quotes or other material. After the "quotation" the attacker will misrepresent what has been said or what was meant and then attack their own interpretation.Later they will have the audacity to claim they were "only" quoting our own material.  

They will of course insist ad nauseum that they are merely using our sources and are therefore innocent of any deceptive practice. LDS persons have no issue whatsoever having our scriptures or leaders quoted as long as it is presented fairly and accurately. This is rarely (if ever) done.

Another favorite is posting scripture or statements which on their own really present no dilemma. They make something out of nothing while never bringing up a single objection that hasn't been addressed a hundred times before.

You might note a couple of other tactics used to try to antagonize is the use of disrespectful or insulting terms or language and/or pictures. That's a Christlike thing to do right? Yeah I don't think so either. It does speak volumes about them though.

Sometimes they cruise the headlines of the day seeking any story that might be twisted into making the Church look bad. Anything will do, just watch the progression of posts following it and see what I mean.

After reading their posts, I invite you to seek the truth about whatever "issue" they seem to be "revealing" or "exposing". I promise that if you do so with honest intent, the "ahah" moments you will have will be many and frequent. You will start to recognize the tactics employed to cleverly twist and attack and will likely chuckle the more you see. In actuality, there's nothing new here. It's all been addressed many times before.

The latest twist in the anti-Mormon propaganda machine is to actually go to the links provided, but then they cherry pick what they want, then quote and straw man attack that. Clever. It almost appears that they are helping you, the seeker of truth out by doing some footwork for you. Not so much. Don't be insulted, look for yourself. It's not the haystack they want you to think.

Here's a few links to get your started from a different viewpoint. I have found that the vast majority of the "issues" brought up can be found and addressed at http://www.fairlds.org/ but here's more:

http://scriptures.lds.org/
http://www.lds.org
http://www.fairlds.org/
http://www.mormonapologetics.org/
http://www.mormonwiki.com/Main_Page
http://www.lightplanet.com/response/index.html
http://www.jefflindsay.com/LDS_Intro.shtml
http://www.answeringantimormons.com/index.htm
http://promormon.blogspot.com/

Now you will likely notice the "you never address our points" posts pop up as usual. All after providing the answers just as you have here.

Sometimes it is claimed that these sites present a needle in a haystack. Far from it. But if you give up before you try you won't know will you?

Will you wear blinders too? Seek truth. Find out for yourself. Want to chat with someone on any topic? A few of these sites provide just that. So do your homework sincere seeker of truth. Listen and read from both "sides". Make up your own mind.

I witness to you of these truths and wish you the best, in the name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

[colorcountry]

Yes, I was pretty dumb when I was born into a fifth generation LDS family and I was still pretty much believing everything my family and church told me when I was eight years old and became a “member,” because I was officially old enough to choose.

Pretty damn dumb.