Exploiting the Alabama Fires

As reported yesterday, three college students have been arrested for setting fire to 9 churches in Alabama (and possibly a 10th), and one of the students ridiculously claimed that their crimes were a "joke" that "got out of hand". I thought it would be hard to top that idiotic statement, but religious right leader Rick Scarborough is giving it a hell of a try. This is from the text of an email he sent to his followers today:

The War on Christianity Rages Like...
An Alabama Church Fire

Today is the day that America called burning nine churches a college "prank."

There were three arrests yesterday in the case of the string of church fires in Alabama. The law enforcement officials should be thanked for what appears to be a job well done. Despite the arrests, there is something about this matter that really concerns me.

Everywhere I turn in the media I see attempts to turn this horrendous crime against Christianity into a mere "prank." Every news outlet from Fox to CNN has reported this as a teenage "prank." Let's get something straight here: rolling a house with toilet paper is a prank, torching nine churches is NOT a prank.

No kidding. It's not a prank. But this claim that "America" is calling it a prank and that "the media" is trying to turn it into one is every bit as ridiculous. "America" isn't calling it a prank, the kid who did it called it a prank; does Scarborough really think that "America" buys that excuse? I daresay the only reason it was noted in so many news stories is because it's so ridiculous that it would make people react to it (as we all did).

Calling the setting of 9 intentional fires a "joke" is like a serial killer claiming he was just cleaning his gun and it accidentally went off....27 different times on 27 different days in 27 different places. No one in their right mind is going to buy that and the kid is an idiot (on top of being a deplorable human being and a felon) for even trying it. But there is obviously a difference between reporting that he said it and trying to get people to think it's true. No media outlet has actually supported that story, for crying out loud. But Scarborough sees demons lurking in the shadows:

It appears that some are relieved to learn that the torchees are young college students who apparently were not wearing hoods on their heads or bearing swastikas on their arms. Alabama Gov. Bob Riley said the church arsons did not appear to be "any type of conspiracy against organized religion" or the Baptist faith. With the arrests, he said, "the faith-based community can rest a little easier."

With all due respect to the Governor, this was a "conspiracy" of three individuals planning these horrendous crimes together, and it was committed against "organized religion," namely nine Baptist churches. Why the desire to minimize the crimes? Why the desire to deny the obvious facts?

Obviously, what Riley meant was that it doesn't appear that the arson is the work of a large group like, say, the KKK or some of their allies. Why is that a cause for relief? Because if it was just three idiots working on their own, and you catch those idiots, chances are you've solved the problem. If, on the other hand, the arson is the work of a large, spread out group and you've only nailed three of them, you've probably got major problems still to worry about. The chances of more crimes being committed is much higher. That isn't "minimizing" the crimes at all. The crimes are horrendous. But it appears that the cause of those crimes has been neutralized with these arrests and that's a lot more reassuring than some other possibilities.

The War against Christianity is raging across this nation like an Alabama Church Fire. Some want to minimize this war, others want to explain it away. I will do neither. We must understand the times and we must have the courage to look at the facts and respond accordingly. I hope you can join us at the "War on Christianity" Conference where we will discuss these issues in depth and will help you defeat this War against all that we hold dear.

Ah, we've hit the root of Scarborough's blatant and transparent demagoguery - he's selling something. Not only is he selling a specific conference, he's selling the martyr pose. He's selling the idea that "America" is hostile to Christianity despite all evidence to the contrary. He's selling the notion of persecution because claiming to be a victim buys political power in this country. But it takes serious chutzpah for this cretin to talk about the "courage to look at the facts" while so blatantly distorting the words of others.