The Barracuda bites back

John Ziegler interviews Sarah Palin about media bias during the 2008 election campaign.

UPDATE: Suspicions Confirmed; Accelerant Used by Arsonists to Set Fire to Sarah Palin’s Church

Update Monday from the Associated Press:

An accelerant was poured around the exterior of Gov. Sarah Palin’s church before fire heavily damaged the building, federal investigators said Monday. 

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said the accelerant was poured at several locations around the church, including entrances.

Lab tests will determine the type of substance involved. Possibilities include gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel or even lamp oil, Agent Nick Starcevic said.

The blaze was set Friday night at the main entrance of the Wasilla Bible Church while a small group, including two children, were inside. No one was injured. Fire authorities were called to the scene at 9:40 p.m., unusually early for many arson fires, Starcevic said.

“It’s kind of odd to do in the evening hours,” he said. “I can tell you that most of the arson fires I’ve worked on are late nighttime, usually when no one is there.”

…Wasilla Deputy Police Chief Greg Wood said authorities had no immediate suspects or motive.

So many questions still remain unanswered:  Who set the fire?  Why?  Was this really an attempted murder?  Were the arsonists upset by Sarah Palin’s ties to the church, or by the church’s ties to a recovery program for gays?  And if it turns out the arsonists were motivated by hate, will the ACLU scream charges of hate crimes like they would if the church had been a congregation of homosexuals?  (Well, at least we already know the answer to one of those questions)  Stay tuned for more updates as they come in.

Arson Fire Guts Sarah Palin’s Wasilla Church

From The Huffington Post:

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Gov. Sarah Palin’s home church was badly damaged by arson, leading the governor to apologize if the fire was connected to “undeserved negative attention” from her failed campaign as the Republican presidential nominee.

Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele.

…Authorities didn’t know whether Palin’s connection to the church was relevant to the fire, Steele said.

“It’s hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation,” he said. “We have no information on intent or motive.”

…The 1,000-member evangelical church was the subject of intense scrutiny after Palin was named John McCain’s running mate. Early in Palin’s campaign, the church was criticized for promoting in a Sunday bulletin a Focus on the Family “Love Won Out Conference” in Anchorage. The conference promised to “help men and women dissatisfied with living homosexually understand that same-sex attractions can be overcome.“

The fire was set at the entrance of the church and moved inward as a small group of women were working on crafts, Steele said. The group was alerted to the blaze by a fire alarm.

Outside temperatures were minus 20 as firefighters battled the blaze.

Steele said a multi-agency task force was being assembled to investigate the fire.

Meanwhile, Eugene Delgaudo, President of Public Advocate, a Christian Organization, has urged authorities to conduct a thorough investigation while insisting that prosecutors NOT seek hate crimes charges, despite the possibility that the arsonists were motivated by hatred stemming from the church’s promotion of a Love Won Out conference and its ties to Sarah Palin.

From EarnedMedia.org:

“We do not know if this arson and attempted murder was perpetrated by advocates of homosexual marriage, but the church has been the target of verbal attacks by the homosexual lobby and their apologists in the major media and this attack follows countless other recent attacks by homosexuals against Christians,” said Delgaudio.

…In a letter to authorities in Alaska, Delgaudio also encouraged prosecutors not to seek hate crimes charges, if the arsonist or arsonists were motivated by hatred of Christians. “Whomever set the fire, for whatever reason, should receive the toughest and longest sentence possible for arson and attempted murder under Alaskan law,” said Delgaudio, “But we do not condone the politicalization of crime in any case, including this one.”

…The attack on the church comes amid a wave of violence against Christians by homosexuals after California voters approved a ballot measure preserving marriage as union of a man and a woman.

Stay tuned for updates regarding suspects and suspected motive. Will this end up being just one more example of Christians being persecuted for standing up to the homosexual agenda? We’ll have to wait and see. Regardless, it’s encouraging to see that Christians aren’t crying out about “hate crimes” like any good liberal would if put in a similar situation. Hate crimes laws are the equivalent of thought crimes and represent a serious threat to religious freedoms when applied to “sexual orientation.” I’m happy to see Christians have chosen not to play that game.

cschande