Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
Holy cow. ABC News is reporting that a Liberty University student had homemade bombs in his car and was planning to bomb people protesting at Jerry Falwell's funeral:
Authorities arrested a Liberty University student for having several homemade bombs in his car.The student, 19-year-old Mark Ewell of Amissville, Va., reportedly told authorities that he was making the bombs to stop protesters from disrupting the funeral service. The devices were made of a combination of gasoline and detergent, a law enforcement official told ABC News' Pierre Thomas. They were "slow burn," according to the official, and would not have been very destructive.
Three other suspects are being sought, one of whom is a soldier from Fort Benning, Ga., and another is a high school student. No information was available on the third suspect.
Yep, that's just what Jesus would do.
Comments
I'll bet you a dime to a dollar that the following phrase is not used on any of the major networks: "Christian terrorism."
Posted by: Russell | May 22, 2007 5:52 PM
Perhaps not very explosive, but gas + soap is "bathtub napalm", if my "Anarchist Cookbook" lore serves me. Sure, limbs wouldn't be blown off, but the 3rd degree burns resulting from getting splashed by it aren't anything to sneer at.
Christians are so cute when they're trying to kill infidels.
Posted by: Jeff Schmidt | May 22, 2007 5:57 PM
Jeff's right. Detergent and gasoline, unlike pure gasoline, wets the skin and then burns. It's really nasty.
No doubt they'll try to use his 'faith' as an excuse at trial. I hope it doesn't work. This nasty little piece of work needs to be stored somewhere where he can't hurt anyone.
Posted by: Gerard Harbison | May 22, 2007 6:06 PM
Wow, I would never protest anyone's funeral (what do they want, Falwell back alive again?) but to bomb those who do? May I ask a stupid question: has anyone tried to bomb Fred Phelps during one of his nauseating protests?
Didn't think so.
Posted by: Kristine | May 22, 2007 6:17 PM
Wasn't the Phelps clan planning on protesting this funeral? I think they may have been the targets.
Posted by: argystokes | May 22, 2007 6:22 PM
Actually, the Phelps crew might have been the target of the bombs as they were there protesting the funeral as well as people opposed to the glorification of that poor excuse for a human being. Sounds like a new MTV hit show to me. "Religious Nut Death Match."
Posted by: Michael | May 22, 2007 6:24 PM
I think Russell has hit the nail on the head. "Terrorists" are not supposed to be white. Or Christian. After all, how much play did the guys with several hundred pipe bombs and plans to kill illegals get? Oh, right, none.
Whereas a bunch of whackos who wanted to attack the Army were super-dangerous terrorists. Don't we want them to attack the Army? "Bring it on" and all that?
For the record, I never cared for "Onward Christian Soldiers," just the wrong image for the Prince of Peace.
Posted by: kehrsam | May 22, 2007 6:25 PM
Whereas a bunch of whackos who wanted to attack the Army were super-dangerous terrorists.
Keith Olberman has a hilarious send-up of the government's "panic" over this. It's available on YouTube.
Posted by: raj | May 22, 2007 7:05 PM
Boy, I'd be awfully tempted to classify this one as an NHI incident and forget about it.
Posted by: Bill Poser | May 22, 2007 7:18 PM
First fanatical Christian super-kook Fred Phelps, then the armchair anarchist napalm bomb nut.
If Thomas Kennedy O'Toole had hated televangelists, he would have written this dark comedy.
Posted by: llewelly | May 22, 2007 7:27 PM
Bingo.
Posted by: Skemono | May 22, 2007 7:45 PM
I guess it was a stupid question! Well, my apologies to Fred. A fanatic trying to harm another - that's original. Suddenly, I'm scared.
Posted by: Kristine | May 22, 2007 8:24 PM
I'm sure that bombs would have made the funeral go quite smoothly, and would not have provided the least distraction.
Posted by: Jason Kuznicki | May 22, 2007 8:58 PM
As someone who has suffered second and third degree burns over a significant part of her body, I have to say that anyone who attempts to use fire, scalding water, caustic chemicals, or homemade napalm to execute a personal or political vendetta needs to have an appendage (say, his left hand) immersed in boiling water for ten to twenty seconds in order to understand the depravity of his intended act. No further punishment would be necessary - believe me. My only hesitation in meting out this punishment would be that the pain (both during the ordeal and in the treatment) is so horrific that I wouldn't want another human being to be responsible for intentionally causing it.
Posted by: AnneS | May 22, 2007 9:03 PM
Im breathing deep breaths. Its nice to read the comments. It lets me see that not everyone out there is a religouse nut.
Posted by: Larry Talbott | May 22, 2007 9:32 PM
Make sure you read all the way too the end of the article:
It seems surreal to me that there are those out there who still blindly claim that Falwell was such a great person, brave enough to do 'God's Work'. I mean really... not a single GOP politician shows up? ... of course not... even they recognize a loser like him can only bring them down.
The only famous people who showed up were whack-jobs like Pat Robertson and Roy Moore who spew out garbage as much as Falwell did.
The lack of mainstream high-profile attendees to his funeral, is the truest recognition of what his legacy really is.
Posted by: doctorgoo | May 22, 2007 9:44 PM
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=52589827
The wacko's Myspace page.
Posted by: Michael | May 22, 2007 11:18 PM
uhh... maybe I'm just slow, but it seems to me that bombing disruptive people would be even more disruptive.
I have trained myself to think like a weed for professional reasons, but trying to think like a fundie moron is much harder.
Posted by: Tex | May 22, 2007 11:57 PM
"...even they recognize a loser like him can only bring them down."
Hmmm...loser...so how many initiatives have you taken to help children, single moms and students? I don't agree with all that Falwell said or stood for, but he certainly accomplished more in his lifetime than most could ever dream of.
"The lack of mainstream high-profile attendees to his funeral, is the truest recognition of what his legacy really is."
Funny - I thought having courage to press on in the midst of your critics was a better legacy. His legacy will be active for years to come...long after your high-profile attendees have left a wake of increased taxes and a hefty pension for themselves. They're just being PC since Falwell is a controversial figure...wouldn't want to lose any votes. I can only hope you'll stand for something one day rather than just do what everyone else is doing, which is leaving no legacy at all. Sad. Very sad.
Posted by: Darren | May 23, 2007 12:10 AM
Relax every one. These were strictly defensive bombs:
"The student, 19-year-old Mark D. Uhl of Amissville, Va., reportedly told authorities that he was making the bombs to stop protesters from disrupting the funeral service. The devices were made of a combination of gasoline and detergent, a law enforcement official told ABC News' Pierre Thomas. They were "slow burn," according to the official, and would not have been very destructive."
This greatly relaxed me. I just know that Mr. Uhl is such a fine young man who is perhaps more than the normal share of the gifts of the spirit. While his zeal for the justice of the lord is admirable, the heat of it may be perhaps a bit dazzling to some.
Posted by: Crudely Wrott | May 23, 2007 12:11 AM
Funny - I thought having courage to press on in the midst of your critics was a better legacy.
Yeah, guys: they laughed at Fred Phelps, too.
Posted by: AV | May 23, 2007 12:58 AM
Of course the "War on Terror" has never prevented Christianists from supporting "Shock and Awe" tactics.
Posted by: RickD | May 23, 2007 6:55 AM
"Hmmm...loser...so how many initiatives have you taken to help children, single moms and students? I don't agree with all that Falwell said or stood for, but he certainly accomplished more in his lifetime than most could ever dream of."
The biblical story of the widow's mite comes to mind here. How do you know that we aren't using all of our abilities to work with the needy (which is a category that vastly exceeds "children, single moms and students")? What percentage of Falwell's income did he use for charitable works? What percentage do you? What percentage do I? (and if you don't know the answers to those questions how can you judge us as less charitable than that hateful man?)
Posted by: Kate | May 23, 2007 7:15 AM
It curious; the idea of having one group of nuts attack the other group of nuts seemed funny a few days ago, but now that I know it's for real, it's not funny anymore.
Posted by: valhar2000 | May 23, 2007 7:17 AM
Five IEDs in the trunk is not someone out to create a disturbance.
Michael, nice find on the MySpace page.
Posted by: Preston | May 23, 2007 7:53 AM
Wow. So Jesus Christ has a MySpace page. Though I have to say I prefer his show on late-night cable tv.
Posted by: RickD | May 23, 2007 7:59 AM
Darren wrote:
How many of us decry obsession with 'mammon' on the part of others while riding about in a multi-million dollar private jet? How many of us publicly claim to preach in the name of the 'Prince of Peace', then crow about the deaths of thousands of innocent people? How many of us have publicly opposed desegregation, then claimed in the same arena to have supported it?
A fine legacy indeed...
Posted by: Chuck C | May 23, 2007 8:57 AM
Wait -- Why the hell are people protesting at a funeral??!!! Obviously that doesn't mean the freak above isn't even more pathetic...but for the protesters was there some reality TV challenge to act with the least dignity possible?
Posted by: BRC | May 23, 2007 9:14 AM
Don't worry Darren, I've done more than my fair share of volunteer work. Even to the point of where it sometimes hurts my own family to do so. But if Falwell's legacy was really about helping "children, single moms and students", as you put it, then why aren't the politicians lining up for a photo opportunity at his funeral?
You alluded to the answer yourself... "since Falwell is a controversial figure". Without a doubt, his legacy will be based on the fact that he frequently twisted his faith into something evil in an (often successful) attempt to get more people to listen to his sometimes rather sickening version of theology.
Falwell is at his peak in getting sympathy due to the fact that he passed so recently... and he STILL didn't receive any mainstream high-profile attendees to his funeral. In other words, he's already 95% irrelevant. In a year, nobody (credible) will ever speak of him in good terms... at least not without adding a qualifying "but" statement to recognize the evil that he often spread in the name of his God.
Posted by: doctorgoo | May 23, 2007 9:41 AM
BRC - Google Fred Phelps and be prepared to be shocked. He's famous for protesting funerals.
Posted by: Phobos | May 23, 2007 9:42 AM
From the Toronto Star:
Christ on a candlestick. Don't these reporters pay any attention to their own stories? Of course the Falwells weren't in any danger. The Phelpses were (not that I have a great deal of sympathy for them).
And it makes my hair hurt to see the way the media is tiptoeing around making any remotely accusatory statement about this kid. If he had darker skin, or if he had not been a born-again, his face would be on the front page of every newspaper in the nation, and he'd alredy be in Gitmo, or even Syria.
Posted by: Chuck C | May 23, 2007 9:52 AM
It curious; the idea of having one group of nuts attack the other group of nuts seemed funny a few days ago, but now that I know it's for real, it's not funny anymore.
No indeed. Look at Iraq; recall Afghanistan in the 1990s; remember the Balkans; remember Rwanda. Even a localized war burns all boats in the harbor. I am quite afraid of the potential for the U.S. to descend into sectarian violence. Look how used to school/workplace shootings we have become.
Posted by: Kristine | May 23, 2007 12:32 PM
Hmmm...loser...so how many initiatives have you taken to help children, single moms...
Oh, please! How do we know what Jerry Falwell actually "did"? From Jerry Falwell.
And who was the father?
Sorry. :-)
Posted by: Kristine | May 23, 2007 2:25 PM
Posted by: Tegumai Bopsulai, FCD | May 23, 2007 2:31 PM