A church battling coronavirus restrictions was destroyed in a fire that investigators believe was ar
Source: CNN
A church that had been battling city officials over Covid-19 restrictions was destroyed in a fire that investigators believe was intentionally set.
The First Pentecostal Church in Holly Springs, Mississippi, was found engulfed in flames Wednesday morning, Marshall County Sheriff's Maj. Kelly McMillian told CNN.
In addition, investigators found graffiti on the lot that read, "Bet you stay home now you hypokrits [sic]," CNN affiliate WMC reported.
The church, located in northern Mississippi near the Tennessee border, filed a lawsuit against the city of Holly Springs last month alleging that police disrupted Easter Service and Bible study.
In the complaint, First Pentecostal Church asked for a temporary restraining order to keep the city from preventing services indoors as part of enforcement of its stay-at-home order.
Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/05/22/us/mississippi-church-coronavirus-restrictions-trnd/index.html
Someone has just turned these people into victims, of course it is obvious they aren't too bright from their attempted spelling of hypocrites.
CaptYossarian
(6,448 posts)How many on the city council are suspects?
jberryhill
(62,444 posts)Someone lawfully owns a gun. They decide one day to walk down the street pointing that gun at other people and threatening to shoot. In fact, every now and then, they fire the gun and kill someone.
I decide to put a stop to it by coming up from behind, taking the gun, and running off with it.
They are now the victim of the theft of their gun.
We could use more victims like that.
hatrack
(59,442 posts)"See?!!??! We're so OPPRESSED!!!!"
I would put nothing past today's crop of American evangelical fundies . . .
lostnfound
(16,138 posts)Bengus81
(6,907 posts)After those nut jobs and their crackpot "religion" had most of America 100% against them. And then *POOF* a fire started. Who'd a thunk it?
The Magistrate
(95,237 posts)Not much I'd put past a small town pastor and his flock....
bucolic_frolic
(42,676 posts)The misspelling is too over the top
SWBTATTReg
(21,859 posts)gain support for their side of the issue?
SheltieLover
(57,073 posts)But many people here really are that stupid. Holly Springs, in MS is sort of a suburb of Memphis.
yardwork
(61,418 posts)And would stupid people use the word hypocrites? That's a word that people who can't spell generally wouldn't use.
The whole thing looks very suspicious to me.
gopiscrap
(23,674 posts)UpInArms
(51,253 posts)No one spells like that ... unless to point the finger at themselves ...
Reminds me of the girl who carved a b backwards on her face (cause it was done in the mirror)
Cirque du So-What
(25,812 posts)The note reeks of mendacity.
MicaelS
(8,747 posts)Many Christians still portray themselves as victim of Persecution, because they are not "allowed" to practice their religion as they see fit. This might just be an extension of this mindset.
yardwork
(61,418 posts)Bengus81
(6,907 posts)Grokenstein
(5,707 posts)NCjack
(10,279 posts)are in other people's pockets.
DBoon
(22,288 posts)The same cannot be said about the people who contract Covid-19 because the church insists on holding illegal services.
not_the_one
(2,227 posts)I would go with the "stirrer of shit" motivation, and not necessarily by the "social distancing" crowd.
Let's see what comes out in the investigation. Dim wits who can't spell probably left some clues...
It easy to jump to an obvious conclusion. Accurate conclusions can be anything BUT obvious.
Angrybob2001
(28 posts)You are correct, theres going to be links to whoever did it no matter the motive, but if i was a betting man and i had money to spare i'd put my money on someone affiliated with the church doing it to gain fame/financial support.
not_the_one
(2,227 posts)Obviously there are always exceptions, but as a general rule, we don't tend to hurt people or destroy property when we disagree with the other side.
Vinnie From Indy
(10,820 posts)Oldest trick in the book.
TxVietVet
(1,905 posts)An easy way To get a new church. Just burn. The old one down.
SpankMe
(2,937 posts)Canoe52
(2,944 posts)Texaswitchy
(2,962 posts)I think it was a member of the.church.
AKing
(511 posts)as the arsonist. Militia member looking to sow unrest perhaps and thinks it's an easy way to blame progressives and others who believe in science.
roamer65
(36,739 posts)Especially since these freaks just love to burn black churches. Not a lot of sympathy here. Im trying to find a fuck to give. Looks like I am out.
Odds are it was a inside job for the insurance money.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)http://hspc.1church4u.com/
As is this whole franchise:
http://apostolicfaithfellowship.org/evangelist/Evangelist.html
Solly Mack
(90,740 posts)Donations from the outraged should pour in now. Not to mention the insurance.
Sure. It could have been someone angry the church was fighting against safer at home orders.
But color me dubious.
maxrandb
(15,192 posts)Definitely a false flag.
Probably not getting the weekly inflush of cash in the collection plate and burned it on purpose for the insurance money.
Jedi Guy
(3,171 posts)You must be a Republican operative. Spelling/grammatical errors are not the sole purview of the right. Damn near every thread on DU proves that. The funniest ones are those that mock the errors of others while containing their own errors. Glass houses, stones, etc.
maxrandb
(15,192 posts)Inflush is used correctly here.
When I first saw this headline this morning, I was appalled. The burning of a church is an assault on American values. Yes, the members of this church are recklessly endangering other peoples lives with their willfully narrow-minded understanding of worship (really to make a political point, I would suspect). I get that (and dont get me going on that). But vigilantism only makes things worse.
When I got a chance to reply, I saw that theres been a blame-the-victim pile-on, based on no evidence whatsoever. Come on we can do better. To say that the American right has been provocative in recent years would be the understatement of the century, but we have to stay on the high road and stay above the maelstrom of madness that has consumed the American right. (I just try to take a deep breath and focus on November.)
bluecollar2
(3,622 posts)Are you kidding me?
The next 6 months are going to be a bar fight. The tea party and trump aided by the republicans are going to use every dirty trick they have including the possibility of burning their own church.
Hitler did it in Poland to justify his invasion of Poland....no reason it can't happen again.
Eliot Rosewater
(31,097 posts)yardwork
(61,418 posts)Welcome to DU. Did you join DU to post about this? Are you member of this community in MS?
Initech
(99,915 posts)FreepFryer
(7,077 posts)bluecollar2
(3,622 posts)marble falls
(56,359 posts)EAB
(7 posts)I agree between now and November will be ugly. (And perhaps after, as Trump seems unable to accept the idea that he could lose the election.) And presumably the bizarre and destructive will continue apace. (I so wish I had a video camera going to record my nine-year-olds expression when I told him about the bleach comment.)
But automatically jumping to conclusions doesnt get us anywhere we want to go. Its enough to express that something awful happened and hope for a thorough investigation.
On a side note, I think people are perhaps talking about the Reichstag fire. If there was a church burning that was used as an excuse for invading Poland, kindly direct me to a source. I inhaled a lot of WWII history as a kid and as the Clash would say, Well, some of it was true. When I have time, I like to correct that with a more adult perspective.
mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)My bet is on some wingnut racist burned down this black church.
Someone who thought they could 'kill two birds one stone', with their 'clever' message making it appear as though 'stay at home' type of folks were the perps.
Cui Bono? Think about it.
Welcome to DU.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)mr_lebowski
(33,643 posts)In this case, I am less inclined to lean either way as to whether the perp is 'inside' or 'outside' based, but I still doubt the, let's call it 'sincerity', of the graffiti. I think it's a misdirect.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)muriel_volestrangler
(101,154 posts)Hardly anyone believed it at the time, as far as I can tell. Not a church, but the Reichstag wasn't either. And I don't think it's ever been proved that the Reichstag fire was a real "false flag", as opposed to a genuine attack by a opponent of Hitler or Germany that Hitler just then took advantage of.
EAB
(7 posts)I will look into this.
The Magistrate
(95,237 posts)Concentration camp prisoners put into uniform after being shot. The term employed was 'canned goods'.
The basic thing is an old wheeze. In several instances in my city, local candidates have had a round or two fired into a campaign office window for occasion to denounce an opponent's 'thuggery'.
I do not say the minister burnt his own church, there is evidence only of arson, that the fire was set deliberately. But given the sort of political shit-heel the minister is, he certainly cannot be ruled out as an arson suspect at present, on the evidence available to the public.
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)Last edited Sat May 23, 2020, 06:04 PM - Edit history (1)
This might have been a "solution..."
From the looks of Jerry Waldrop's wife's facebook page, that church had some pretty expensive lighting, sound equipment and a big flat screen in the sanctuary. There was some serious money spent on that.
https://www.facebook.com/judith.waldrop.96/
ehrnst
(32,640 posts)At least as of March 30, 2019, Jerry Waldrop was the minister of West Thonotosassa Baptist Church in Richland, FL
https://www.tampabay.com/news/publicsafety/friends-tried-to-talk-her-out-of-moving-back-in-with-her-son-weeks-later-barbara-sharp-was-dead-20190319/?template=amp
Oddly enough - he's still listed on their website as their minister:
https://www.westthonotosassabaptistchurch.com/about
In 2017-2019, he was on the pastoral staff at Mogadore Baptist Church in Akron, OH, as youth/music minister.
http://www.oarbc.org/file-browser/file/2018-19_OARBC_DIRECTORY_Revised_for_Web%252Epdf
http://www.mogadorebaptist.com/about-us/upcoming-church-events/
When I typed in his name - this appeared in autofill:
I have to wonder if something was up with him that he didn't stay in one church very long, and then switched denomiations....
More -
http://www.onevoicemusic.faithweb.com/songstersqt.htm
Bengus81
(6,907 posts)And let's see............