Fires Reported at 4 More Ala. Churches

A volunteer Firefighters from the West Greene Fire Department sprays water on the smoldering remains of the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church near Boligee, Ala., in Greene County, Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006. Four more houses of worship were destroyed or damaged along country roads in Alabama, after after five were set ablaze in arsons four days ago. Investigators said the latest fires at four churches, all started overnight. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

Found this off Yahoo News:

BOLIGEE, Ala. - Fires damaged or destroyed four more Baptist churches across the Alabama countryside Tuesday, less than a week after a string of five blazes that were ruled arson.

Church member Johnny Archibald said smoke was pouring from Morning Star Baptist in Boligee when he arrived around daybreak.

"They had kicked the door in," he said. "Evidently they had set the pulpit on fire and went out the front door."

A firefighter puts out the smoldering remains of the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church in Greene County near Boligee, Ala., Tuesday, Feb. 7 2006. Fires damaged or destroyed four Baptist churches across the Alabama countryside Tuesday, less than a week after a string of five blazes that were ruled arson.(AP Photo Butch Dill)

Tuesday's fires took place at churches off rural roads, about 10 to 20 miles apart. They were in a cluster of three counties, about 60 miles from the Bibb County area where the five other churches were burned early Friday.

FBI acting assistant director Chip Burrus said investigators were working on the assumption that the nine fires are linked.

An agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms investigates the remains of the Morning Star Baptist church Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2006, near Boligee, Ala., after a fire destroyed the structure earlier that morning. Fires damaged or destroyed four Baptist churches across the Alabama countryside Tuesday, less than a week after a string of five blazes that were ruled arson. (AP Photo/The Birmingham News, Steve Barnette)

Authorities have no suspects or motive, Burrus said in an interview with The Associated Press in Washington, D.C.

Rich Marianos, a spokesman for the federal Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agency, said more than 50 agents are now assigned to the investigation in Alabama.

"This is our No. 1 priority nationally," he said.

The fire that damaged Dancy First Baptist Church early Tuesday in Pickens County appeared to be arson, said Sheriff David Abston. He said volunteer firefighters responded to a burglar alarm that went off at 5:13 a.m.

Ragan Ingram, a spokesman for the state insurance agency that oversees fire investigations, said investigators were pursuing several leads in last week's fires, but "the leads haven't led us to a specific suspect or a motive."

Investigators got tire impressions from the mud of a dirt road in Sumter County near Galilee Baptist, one of the churches destroyed Tuesday.

Morning Star Baptist was burned down to its foundation Tuesday, leaving only the front steps and handrail still standing. Another church was destroyed, and the other two were damaged. In the Bibb County fires, three churches were destroyed and two damaged.

Ingram said there have been 59 church fires in Alabama in the past five years, including the nine reported in the past four days, and 19 were ruled arsons.

The FBI said it is looking into whether the Bibb County fires were civil rights violations under laws covering attacks on religious property. State and federal rewards totaling $10,000 have been offered.

The nine churches that burned included both white and black congregations.

Archibald said the side door of Morning Star Baptist had a footprint on it, and he and another man used an ax to remove the door for potential use as evidence. At least two of the Bibb County churches also had kicked-in doors, church members said.

Investigators talk about possible evidence on the front door at the scene of a fire at the Morning Star Missionary Baptist Church near Boligee, Ala., in Greene County, Tuesday, Feb. 7 2006. Four more houses of worship were destroyed or damaged along country roads in Alabama, after after five were set ablaze in arsons four days ago. Investigators said the latest fires at four churches, all started overnight. (AP Photo/Butch Dill)

We've had six Alabama Baptist churches burned last week, and now we have four more churches that have been burned. I'm wondering who could be responsible for these fires? From what I've read in the news reports, it appears that these individuals set their fires at the pulpits of the churches. Could this mean that they have a special hatred towards Baptist ministers, as well as the Baptist religion? Are these fires religious, and race-based? The Baptist religion has very strong roots within the black community, and the individual--or individuals--responsible may equate the Baptist religion with the black community in general. Or could such individuals have a religious or theological disagreement between the Baptist religion, and their own religion?

The more I reflect on this story, the more it seems that these current church fires are similar to the church fires and bombings during the civil rights protests of the 1950s and 60s. Black churches in the south were more than just houses of worship--they were the community and civic centers for the black community of the southern towns. The churches were in some respects, the glue that held the black community together. In other words, if you wanted to network within the black community, you went to church. The Klu Klux Klan, and other racial-hating groups within the south, knew of this leadership role that black churches had within their communities, and so they thought that if such churches could be destroyed through arson or firebombing, then the black community could disintegrate and make it easier for Klan-controlled white political establishments--police and small-town governments--to further subjugate the black community. Could the said individuals who are now currently torching these Baptist churches have a desire to politically and culturally destroy and subjugate the black community?

I can't say as of yet. I'll certainly be watching for more stories on this issue.