Fire, Anti-Gay Graffiti at UCC Church After Same-Sex Marriage Resolution

[ruggerson]

You gotta love those rightwingers and their pretense that they love "liberty" and "freedom".

Fuck you George Bush.

http://ap.tbo.com/ap/breaking/MGBQURDAYAE.html

<snip>

Saturday, July 9

Fire, Anti-Gay Graffiti at United Church of Christ After Same-Sex Marriage Resolution
The Associated Press

MIDDLEBROOK, Va. (AP) - A small fire and anti-gay graffiti were found Saturday at a church belonging to the United Church of Christ, a denomination that endorsed same-sex marriage last week.

The exterior of St. John's Reformed United Church of Christ also included a message that United Church of Christ members were sinners.

A member of the congregation discovered the graffiti when he stopped by to mow the grass. He found a small fire within the sanctuary. The fire was put out in a few minutes, Lt. Tim McCray said.

A Virginia State Police fire investigator was on the scene Saturday afternoon, but declined to comment.

<snip>

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. a hate crime

I hope that all the churches in the area condemn this act. If any approve of it--well, that's where I'd be investigating.

[mongo]

5. It's a terrorist act

meant to disrupt the political process of the church and fear in it's members.

[Endangered Specie]

10. hmmm, hate crime or terrorists...

im inclined to go with both on that one.

[jazzjunkysue]

14. Exactly. Couldn't be anything else. Xtian terrorists. Just great.

[Deja Q]

34. Bingo. They are terrorists. Period.

[ist rad]

2. Wow, I'm sure this has got Jesus smiling....

:sarcasm:

[etherealtruth]

3. WWJD?

Set a church on fire? I don't think you can pervert Christianity enough, that setting a church on fire would ever be OK (?)

[clydefrand]

4. Of course, these criminals are all Christian republicans. I'll bet

there isn't a dirty librul among them. I wish there were other words besides liberal and conservative. I'm so sick of hearing the word liberal used in such a derogatory manner.

[Bill McBlueState]

6. when someone burns down your church

you know you're doing something right. Happened all the time in the sixties, right?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

7. and, sadly, people were hurt and killed

remember the Birmingham Church bombing where the little girls were killed? Let's hope this incident doesn't elevate to violence at that level.

Wouldn't be surprised if people with the same mindset as those who did the Birmingham bombing are the ones responsible for this outrage.

[Bill McBlueState]

16. yes, I think it's exactly the same mindset

And of course, the people who did this are probably also saying things like 'we need to close our borders to keep out the terrorists.'

Terrorism begins at home, apparently.

[Scottie72]

29. It is the same mindset

Tbink for a few minutes... they are using the same darn arguments and the same book to justify themselves.

[Bluebear]

8. "God left this "church" years ago, this place is no longer his."

From you-know-where. They justify absolutely everything to their own perverted sense of law and indecency.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

31. Is that FR or the Sphincter? (nt)

[kestrel91316]

9. A shot across the bow ...........

from our friends, the Christofascists.

[Endangered Specie]

11. Das Hakenkreuztians, I suppose next time theyll be burning books too?

[leesa]

12. Ahhh....Jesus would be proud of the right wing hate groups!

[LeftCoast]

13. RW Terrorists - They hate us for our freedom

(NT)

[progressivebydesign]

15. I find the right wing to be the meanest SOBs on Earth.

I notice when a local columnist recounts his hate mail from either side over comments he's made, the right wing attacks on him are much more personal, threatening, and ugly. He pisses off the left and right regularly, but the right are the ones that wish him death and other sorts of atrocities regularly.. of course they usually are attacking him in the name of Christ. I kid you not.

Why are those people so afraid of gays? What is so precarious in their own lives that they cannot tolerate anyone different? I don't understand, and never will. UCCs stance on same-sex marriage actually tempts me back into some sort of religion, again.

[Ian David]

17. We need to show our support for this church

I think this is the church that was attacked:

St John's Reformed United Church of Christ
1515 Arborhill Road
Staunton, VA 24401
540-885-2107


Here is where you can donate to The United Church of Christ:

Make a gift!

Welcome to the Make a Gift page. Below is a list of national ministries of the United Church of Christ you can support by making a gift, information about making a planned gift to your congregation or other settings of the United Church of Christ, ways that you can invest through the United Church of Christ, and ideas for enhancing stewardship in your congregation.

Don Hill
Financial Development Ministry
United Church of Christ
700 Prospect Ave.
Cleveland, OH 44115
216-736-2166
800-846-6822
[e-mail]

http://www.ucc.org/makeagift/index.html

[derby378]

18. Juden Raus!

They might as well have planted a burning cross in front of the church - no point in being coy about hatred.

[BrotherBuzz]

19. It should be noted this church is very familiar with burning crosses....

I started my activist life with the UCC during the early sixties with the civil rights movement. We were right correct back then, and we're correct today. We will prevail in this battle - believe it!

[struggle4progress]

20. King George brings us together: some to set fires, others to put them out.

[WhiteTara]

35. LOL

[iconoclastic cat]

21. This is becoming a pattern:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=4064980

[janx]

22. You noticed that too?

What is it about vandalism and fires in houses of worship lately?

[iconoclastic cat]

25. I'll tell you: the place being bombed/burned aren't fundie churches,

the one true faith.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

27. And do you know what?

When these assholes are apprehended and charged with a crime, the right wing will piss and moan about Christianity "being under attack in the courts." Bet on it.

[Vickers]

23. Wow, I guess God really *does* hate fags

:eyes:

[Vuem]

24. By Their Fruits Ye Shall Know Them

This has nothing to do with Bush, but the ignornance innate to mankind.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

26. This has everything to do with Bush

He's a high-powered cheerleader for all mankinds' worst instincts. His mere presence in the White House eggs on his supporters. And because he won't denounce them in unambiguous terms, they feel empowered to keep acting out.

[athenap]

28. Unfortunately, * doesn't have that power

YHVH itself could come down in flames from heaven above and denounce these people in single-syllable words, and their response would be, "It's a trick from Satan." There is no God for them beyond what echoes inside their steel-ball skulls.

[Vuem]

30. This has to do with human nature. Bush is irrelevant.

The simple fact that he is currently in power is meaningless.

This is similar to the whole burning of black churches myth when Clinton was in power.

What's crap back then is still crap today.

[iverglas]

32. it's human nature ... to hate gay men and lesbians and their friends?

Fascinating, I'm sure.

If it's human nature, how come gay men and lesbians aren't hating gay men and lesbians?

And African-Americans hating African-Americans, and women hating women ...

The simple fact that he is currently in power is meaningless.

The simple fact that he is currently in power and others of his ilk are in power in huge swaths of the US, and on a long ascendancy in the media and the churches and legislatures of the land, is quite far from meaningless.

This is similar to the whole burning of black churches myth when Clinton was in power.
What's crap back then is still crap today.

Maybe it's because I'm a foreigner, but I'd need some explaining of that one.

Was the fire in issue in this story a myth?

Perhaps you imagine that someone thinks that no such incidents would occur if only a Clinton were in power. I think I can assure you that no one expects the effects of years ... decades, generations ... of the inculcation of evil into human beings -- whose "nature", really, simply is not evil -- to simply disappear in the event of that happening. Really.

But the inculcation does have to stop sometime if the effects are ever to go away. And Bush is obviously the chief inculcator these days.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

37. He's an enabler...

People like Bush in public life make their warped theology seem normal.

And it's nothing at all like the burning of black churches (which wasn't a myth, just media hype). Clinton wasn't leaving subtle encouragement to racists.

[XemaSab]

33. Our sermon this morning

In my Methodist church was on reconciliation and whether the Bible says that foreigners and eunuchs cannot belong to the church unto the 10 generation or whether the church is open to all.

Three guesses about the conclusion of THAT one...

[LefflerP]

36. War?

Xtian Terrorists versus Xtian Terrorists.

[thrift_store_angel]

38. Washington Blade Article with picture.....

http://www.washblade.com/thelatest/thelatest.cfm?blog_id=1517

A small fire Saturday damaged a church in this Shenandoah Valley community and anti-gay graffiti was found on the outside of the church.

The exterior of St. John's Reformed United Church of Christ also included a message that United Church of Christ members were sinners.

The United Church of Christ endorsed a resolution July 4 endorsing same-sex marriage. The resolution was not binding on the denomination's 1.3 million members.

A lifetime member of the Middlebrook congregation, Jerry Shultz, discovered the graffiti Saturday morning when he stopped by to mow the grass. He found a small fire within the sanctuary.