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Page: Profile: Wren's Nest News Local
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Article: 15090
[Crime]
Date Posted:
3/8/2006
5:44:57 pm EST
Wvox Stats
Views: 9,088
RSS: 14,322
Comments: 17
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Not The Usual Suspects In Church Burnings
Author: Greg Fulton Source: Time
Title: NOT THE USUAL SUSPECTS IN CHURCH BURNINGS
In recent years, church burnings in Alabama have become a disturbing, all too common event, viewed primarily as hate crimes of one kind or another. In 1996 it was a volunteer fireman, Chris Deer, who was arrested for and ultimately pleaded guilty to setting rural Alabama churches on fire. Three years later, self-professed Satanist Jay Ballinger was arrested for setting churches on fire in Alabama and other states. He’s serving a federal life sentence. So it came as quite a shock to law enforcement and residents alike Wednesday when three Birmingham, Alabama area college students, all from upscale families and students at a private, religious-based college, were arrested for allegedly setting nine rural Baptist churches on fire in February.
According to court documents field Wednesday in Alabama, Russell Lee DeBusk Jr, 19, Benjamin Nathan Moseley, 19 and Mathew Lee Cloyd, 20, say they set five small, isolated churches about 50 miles southwest of their Birmingham homes ablaze Feb. 3 as a joke after a night of deer hunting and drinking. Then they set four similar churches on fire Feb. 7 some 100 miles west of Birmingham to try to throw investigators off any clues.
Submitted by and Thanks to: JM Song
Additional Article Link: [Click HERE]
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Community Thoughts: There are 17 comments posted | Reverse Sort |
| Well, I'm Glad They Were Caught. | Mar 10th. at 12:15:56 pm EST
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Alpha Kilo (St Petersburg, Florida) - Email Me
I am relieved actually. I was hoping it wouldn't be someone using our name. Regardless, I think one of the bigger problems our society faces, is the lack of respect for others, their property and their rights. R-E-S-P-E-C-T, as the song implies. It sure could go a long way, but parents seem to be failing to instill tha quality in their children. So, we have a group of selfish brats who grow up to be selfeish teenagers. It doesn't seem to matter anymore if you hurt someone else, so long as you find the activity 'fun'. I can't say I agree with the doctirnes that some of these churches teach, but, as long as I am not forced to abide, I could care less what these people believe. And their beliefs should be respected. Vandalism is a crime that should have MUCH stricter penalties. And I do like the idea of the guys rebuilding the chrurches, brick by brick, hammer and nail, in the sun. They should not be free to complete their education until their restoration project is accomplisehed.
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| Amusing... | Mar 9th. at 4:58:50 pm EST
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William (Pictou Landing, Nova Scotia) - Email Me
At this point, investigators say the "thrill" motive is the best way they can explain it.
Of course had they been 'self-proclaimed' witches or Wiccans their motive would have been 'Satanic' and hateful.
But because they are Christian it was just a 'thrill'.
I now expect to see this whole thing hushed up and swept under the carpet, whereas had they been pagan it would drag on for weeks or months in the media.
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| Teach Them Construction. The Hard Way. | Mar 8th. at 8:58:03 pm EST
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bigcat (peoria, Illinois) - Email Me
Well, what do you know? The Devil really made them do it! It must be tough to be rich and bored. At least in this case they were self proclaimed-- and certainly not Pagan. I agree with another earlier comment that they should help rebuild all of them. After all, they destroyed them-- it would serve better than jail time- and teach them a viable skill to boot.
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| Concerned For Them As People | Mar 8th. at 7:54:29 pm EST
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Mysteries Child (Garfield, West Virginia) - Email Me
Yeah, me too. Also concerned for a society that can produce people who think burning down a church is "just a joke."
Do I believe they could see it that way?? Oh, yeah. Sadly enough, it's not at all unfathomable to me.
Being rich and spoiled will do that to a kid. So will being poor and ruined. Either way, you learn that you can do whatever you want and it doesn't matter-- either because Daddy's money will get you out of it, or because it's what people already expect of you anyway.
I've known other kids that would do things like this. The church on the ridge above my parents' valley has been severely damaged by vandals three times in the past ten years. Once it was out-of-town wannabe Pagans who thought they'd "teach those stupid Christians something."
The other two times, it was perpetrated by kids who went up there to drink and thought it would be fun to smash things up and spread some paint around.
Yeah, I'm concerned too. Real concerned.
Maybe a little corporal punishment is in order.
Maybe they could make up for their sense of humor by investing some of their time (of which they apparently have way too much) and their socioeconomic status in rebuilding the churches. ALL OF THEM. That effort should take months, and Alabama gets HOT in the summers. Let's see who's laughing come July.
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| Abusive People Often Claim The Joke Defense | Mar 8th. at 7:27:24 pm EST
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karrie9 (Kenosha, Wisconsin) - Email Me
"I didn't really mean it."
"It was a joke."
"I didn't realize."
"I was drunk."
They put to fire what they had trouble expressing in words -- in an appropriate manner? (Low emotional intelligence)
It's an abusive power and control issue, of course.
Many enjoy their alcohol and somehow manage not to beat people up or commit arson.
In contrast, others (lower emotional intelligence) act on what's already inside of them, only to try to blame it on alcohol -- something which I'm willing to be they've had before.
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| A Joke.?. | Mar 8th. at 7:05:35 pm EST
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Lunar Pixie (Lithonia, Georgia) - Email Me
A JOKE? A prank? The "thrill" motive? No, I just don't "get it"... I thought jokes were supposed to be funny.
This ain't funny, it's just sick.
Then again, I've often wondered about folks who combine drinking and hunting. Seems like an open invitation to disaster, to me. I just wonder what the f*** they were drinking in the first place, to think that burning churches could be a "Joke"...
(sigh) People sometimes REALLY confuse me.
In Love And Light,
Lunar Pixie (The Original...)
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