[newzjunkey]

Could be. The Feds didn't get involved just for fun. There might be some "civil rights era" reactive law which distinguishes between mere arson and torching of a church by arson.

I know Clinton's stories of numerous church arsons in his childhood were bogus but there is a stigma over church arsons especially in the South.

[presidio9]

Wasn't Condoleeza Rice's church burned when she was a child?

[darkangel82]

18 USC 247-

from http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/

(a) Whoever, in any of the circumstances referred to in subsection (b) of this section—
(1) intentionally defaces, damages, or destroys any religious real property, because of the religious character of that property, or attempts to do so; or
(2) intentionally obstructs, by force or threat of force, any person in the enjoyment of that person’s free exercise of religious beliefs, or attempts to do so;
shall be punished as provided in subsection (d).
(d) The punishment for a violation of subsection (a) of this section shall be—
if bodily injury results to any person, including any public safety officer performing duties as a direct or proximate result of conduct prohibited by this section, and the violation is by means of fire or an explosive, a fine under this title or imprisonment for not more that 40 years, or both.