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Religion See other Religion Articles Title: Jew Conversion Plan May Explain Arson Attacks, Media Spin Jew Conversion Plan May Explain Arson Attacks, Media Spin News/Comment; Posted on: 2006-03-10 17:04:54 [ Printer friendly / Instant flyer ] Did the ADL's hate-filled rhetoric inspire last month's Southern Baptist church-burning spree? BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA -- In September of 2005, ADL Führer Abraham Foxman issued a press release blasting Southern Baptists for planning a major campaign to convert Jews. He wrote: "The idea of the Southern Baptist Convention using a so-called Jewish messianic group -- which misrepresents two faiths -- to target Jews for conversion is disgraceful, insulting and dangerous. "We are outraged over the continuing efforts by the Southern Baptist Convention to target Jews for conversion, especially by considering 'deputizing' a Jewish Messianic group, part of a deceptive movement that falsely claims they are interested in Jewish practices when the real goal is to convert Jews to Christianity. These efforts should be stopped once and for all. "Together with the establishment last year of an institute aimed at teaching Baptist leaders how to minister to Jews, the Southern Baptist leadership continues to show its disrespect and disregard for the validity of Judaism and the Jewish people." On Wednesday, Fox News reported that between February 3 and 11, ten churches -- all Southern Baptist -- were hit by arsonists. Five being destroyed and five damaged. Ashby Baptist Church - Brierfield, Alabama (destroyed) Rehobeth Baptist Church - Lawley, Alabama (destroyed) Old Union Baptist Church - Brierfield (damaged) Antioch Baptist Church - Antioch, Alabama (damaged) Galilee Baptist Church - Panola, Alabama (destroyed) Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church - Boligee, Alabama (destroyed) Pleasant Sabine Baptist Church - Centreville, Alabama (destroyed) Dancy First Baptist Church - Aliceville, Alabama (damaged) Spring Valley Baptist Church - Emelle, Alabama (damaged) Beaverton Freewill Baptist Church -Sulligent, Alabama (damaged) (According to Fox News, most of the fires appear to have been set in the sanctuary near the altar. Message of hate?) Three close friends -- believed to be Jews -- were arrested Wednesday. Benjamin Nathan Moseley and Russell Lee Debusk Jr., both 19-year-old theater majors at Birmingham-Southern College, appeared in federal court and were ordered held without bond pending a hearing planned for Monday. Matthew Lee Cloyd, a 20-year-old pre-med junior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, was also arrested. Birmingham-Southern College, with just 1,562 students, has been cited by numerous national publications as the best among southern liberal arts colleges and as one of the "best buys in higher education." Although it has no specific religious affiliation, in September of 2006, the Birmingham-Southern College Judaic Studies Fund arranged for more than one hundred area teachers to attended an all-day workshop on the "Holocaust." Birmingham has a very large Jewish community, which operates the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute (BCRI), the Birmingham Holocaust Education Committee (BHEC), the Birmingham Museum of Art (BMA), the Cultural Alliance of Greater Birmingham (CAGB); the Birmingham Jewish Federation; the Hadassah Zionist Woman's Organization (HZWO); the Levite Jewish Community Theater; the Emanu-El synagogue; the Beth-El synagogue; the Miles Jewish Day School; the Birmingham Jewish Foundation; the Birmingham Interfaith Cultural Mission (BICM); and the above-mentioned Judaic Studies Fund at Birmingham-Southern College. In February the groups collaborated to cosponsor "The Holocaust: Remembrance and Reflection," a long-planned and advertised citywide series of propaganda programs featuring "art" exhibitions, concerts, films, speakers, and classroom instruction. Coincidentally, the church arsons took place at about the same time. No Harsh Words for Suspects Controlled media have formed a tight security zone around the suspects -- refusing to divulge their ethnic or religious backgrounds, while praising them as wonderful people and offering explanations on their behalf. This has contributed to speculation about the trio being homosexual. Lemmings are told that the arsons were a "joke that went too far" where "no racial pattern exists," and that "all were Baptist churches because that is the dominant faith in the region," and that Birmingham-Southern College is "Methodist-affiliated" -- hinting that the suspects are Christian. An adoring Birmingham News went so far as to characterize DeBusk as "a wonderful drama student, very enthusiastic, well behaved, talented, often the first to settle an argument between friends, a peacemaker," etc. The Birmingham News spin on Matthew Lee Cloyd included these words of praise: "By all accounts, Matthew Lee Cloyd was a scholar - an intelligent boy with a bright future in medicine, just like his father. He graduated... with honors and several advanced placement courses under his belt. He was in the National Honor Society and inducted into Mu Alpha Theta math society his junior year. He was voted Most Outstanding Student in History and was a member of Students Against Destructive Decisions." (Program aimed at keeping students from consuming alcoholic beverages prior to driving, and discouraging the use of drugs.) Today, the Associated Press issued a story in an apparent attempt to help the suspects by offering an explanation for their alleged serial arson spree: drinking and "warped bravado." "Three college students suspected of a string of Alabama church fires may have been out drinking when they began their spree. Throughout the month long investigation, authorities said alcohol could have led to a warped bravado that sparked the arsons, and initial interviews with the suspects bore out the theory, according to one officer," stated the AP article. This "drinking" story is running now, in hundreds of Jewish newspapers. The paper USA Today has nothing negative to say about the crimes or the suspects either, calling the three alleged serial arsonists "stars at school." The paper merely laments that the crime spree "derailed promising futures." They go on to describe the suspects in loving terms via interviews with friends and students, as if they had been taken hostage in Iraq. "Russ is just a goofy, fun-loving guy, almost like a cartoon character," said Jeremy Burgess, 19, DeBusk's roommate. "He's always nice, respectful and hardworking. He studied more than I did." However, this tidbit is also revealed: Burgess said DeBusk "wasn't raised as a Christian... he explained to me that there can be Satanic Christians." Birmingham Jewish Community 1 Birmingham Jewish Community 2 Source: Jeff Hook
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#6. To: Zoroaster (#0)
I thought it odd that we've not heard anymore about this.. the story kind of died..
The story has hit the newspapers. I just did a Google search. Here is one, check out Gov. Riley's remark. Apparently the first step in the damage control plan is to blame the church fires on a prank rather than hate. 3 Students Are Arrested In Alabama Church Fires Associated Press Thursday, March 9, 2006; A09 BIRMINGHAM, March 8 -- Three college students, including two aspiring actors known around campus as pranksters, were arrested Wednesday in a string of nine church fires that spread fear across Alabama last month. Federal agents said the defendants said that the first few blazes were set as "a joke" and that the others were started to throw investigators off the track. Gov. Bob Riley (R) said the fires 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." Benjamin N. Moseley and Russell L. DeBusk Jr., both 19-year-old students at Birmingham-Southern College, appeared in federal court and were ordered held on church arson charges pending a hearing Friday. Matthew L. Cloyd, 20, a junior at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, also was arrested. The fires broke out at five Baptist churches in Bibb County, south of Birmingham, on Feb. 3 and at four Baptist churches in west Alabama on Feb. 7. "While all three are entitled to have their day in court, we are very hopeful that this is the end to the fear that has been rampant in west Alabama," said Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.). Agents traced tire tracks at some of the churches to one suspect's parents, who then acknowledged their son was involved. Five churches were destroyed and four were damaged. In many cases, the fire was set in the sanctuary near the altar. No one was injured. Acquaintances said DeBusk and Moseley were amateur actors who were known as pranksters and dreamed of becoming stars. They performed in campus plays and appeared in a documentary film. Moseley confessed to the arsons after his arrest, investigators said. Court papers said Moseley told agents that he, Cloyd and DeBusk went to Bibb County in Cloyd's sport-utility vehicle on Feb. 2 and set fire to five churches. A witness quoted Cloyd as saying Moseley did it "as a joke and it got out of hand." Tommy Spina, an attorney for Cloyd, said, "This is not a hate crime. This is not a religious crime." A lawyer for DeBusk did not immediately return a message seeking comment, and court files did not list an attorney for Moseley. Investigators said previously that there appeared to be no racial pattern in the fires; four were white congregations, five were black. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp- dyn/content/article/2006/03/08/AR2006030800724_pf.html
Great..thanks for the update on this story.. I hadnt seen any followups on this story in the national news.
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