Saturday, December 13, 2008

Another Chapter of Saradise Lost? I'm Not Sure

Gov. Palin stopped by the church this morning, and she told an assistant pastor that she apologizes if the incident is in any way connected to the undeserved negative attention the church has received since she became a vice-presidential candidate on Aug. 29. Whatever the motives of the arsonist, the governor has faith in the scriptural passage that what was intended for evil will in some way be used for good.


That is the statement issued by Alaska Governor Sarah Palin's office today, regarding the fire last night at the site of the new Wasilla Bible Church. It caused what is estimated to be $1,000,000 damage to a $5,000,000 building.

The Anchorage Daily News covered the story in this morning's electronic editions, and updated it Saturday evening, in preparation for a Sunday edition front pager. Good on-the-spot writing by Wes Loy and Rindi White.

MSNBC carried a report Saturday afternoon that is even more speculative than Palin's ill-advised statement:

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."


DailyKos diarists have picked up on the facts that Palin immediately began spinning this, that the ADN turned it into a front pager, and that MSNBC is reacting in similar fashion. I'd like to point out some statistical data on arson. I was a volunteer fireman for six years, a chief for three (Whittier).

This is from the National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime (NCAVC) located at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia:

Six major classifications of motives for arson:

VandalismRevenge

ProfitExtremist Action

Crime ConcealmentThrill, Excitement Seeking


Vandalism is perhaps the most easily understood motive. The offender intends to do damage. The most common targets are schools or their related property. The Profit motive arises when the arsonist destroys property or inventory to collect insurance. He may set a fire as a means to gain employment. Or he may get Mom to do it: Recently, the mother of a North County, California firefighter was convicted of setting five fires in the Shasta-Trinity National Forests so her son could get more overtime and hazardous-duty pay. There are also cases of private contractors of water tankers, bulldozers, and delivery trucks setting fires to boost the need for their services.


Another common reason for a fire is to conceal the evidence of crime — be that a burglary or homicide. Or the arson may be concealing wrongdoing by burning his business records.


Some fires are set from a wish to extract revenge. Fires are directed at a particular person: the fired worker angry at his boss, an evicted tenant striking at a landlord, a spurned lover evening the score. An arsonist may have some grievance with the government, a church, the academic world, the military, or a group of people. These fires are considered to be set for extremist reasons. A National Church Arson Task Force has opened 945 investigations on attacks on houses of worship between January 1995 and September 1998 (church arson became a federal crime in 1996). In 1998, a group called the Earth Liberation Front set fires to a ski lodge in Vail, Colorado because the lodge was encroaching on the habitat of lynxes (they did $12 million in damage).


Some fires are set from a thirst for excitement. This category includes bored teenagers seeking thrills or loners recognition. This latter reason is an example of something often called the "Hero Syndrome." The offender becomes a local hero for spotting a fire no one else sees — a fire he has set. An offender may also set fires out of sexual excitement, but such a motivation, according to the FBI, is rather rare.


Arsonists are usually young. According to the FBI, juveniles were involved in 45% of arson incidents cleared by law enforcement in 2000. About 85% of arsonists are male and 80% are white. In a 1988 Department of Justice study, 31% of prison inmates whose most serious offense was arson were under the influence of illegal drugs when they committed their crimes; 39% of inmates had used drugs in the month before their offense.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

First, if it was vandalism, there are no excuses for an act of destruction like this, whether directed at a church, a school, or any home or business.

However, those people- including Palin- who claim the fire may be a political statement against Palin are jumping the gun- for all the reasons you noted. They should wait until a final determination has been made that this really was arson, and, if so, who did it- and why.

Bill McAllister said "he wasn't sure when Palin last attended the church." So what makes it Palin's church more than the many others who do attend?

Already- because of Palin's statement that the fire may have been related to her even though the facts remain unknown- the Palinbots are claiming that the fire was caused by "radicals" and Palin "haters."

Pretty soon we'll hear that Bill Ayers was seen "pallin' around" with Mike Wooten Friday night.

Anonymous said...

I wondered if the white powder substance mailed to Palin was related?

I don't know any liberals who condone violence or property destruction as a legitimate form of protest. In fact, when investigators look into the personal lives of those who commit politcally motivated violence, they usually find conservative author's books on their shelves or memberships in hard right organizations.

I wondered if there is a covert plan at work here to make liberals look unhinged in Alaska and keep Palin in the national spotlight?

I think Palin statements regarding the fire reflect her self focused vanity. Curious how she is right out there making this statement...

It is possible that the fire could have been just some lost kids growing up in the dysfunctional Conservative Culture and Meth Capital that is Wasilla.

It is possible too, that with the inevitable deeper recession that is ahead, the pastor could have set the fire himself to fortify his reserves for an uncertain future.

Who knows? I hope the fire investigators find something.

Anonymous said...

Noteworthy is Sarah's assumption that it could have been revenge by HER political enemies. Talk about a narcissistic personality.

The problem with true believers is that they insist everything fits into their belief system about their existence, their purpose and they're acting always on god's will, which is decidedly a distorted perspective from which to shape public policy in a pluralistic society.

Sorry to hear somebody lit a fire and caused damage. Deciding it was god's will seems delusional to me.

Deciding it is god's will to have Sarah Palin's political enemies to be the hand of god seems even more twisted.

Anonymous said...

Judging from some of the rapidly growing number of comments at the ADN story on this, there is no lack of support for people who believe this was somehow an act against Gov. Palin.

Phil Munger - my ID is somehow down

Maia said...

Not to dash any hopes of vast conspiracies, but the white powder was addressed to Gov. Frank Murkowski. Apparently the return address was "Under A Rock." (Only one of those sentences is a joke.)

Anonymous said...

Because of the "excitement" aspect, there should be very little stated in the paper on this.

Anonymous said...

thanks..