ABC News has reported (http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=3201543&page=1)that even in death, the Rev. Jerry Falwell rouses the most volatile of emotions and that a would be student bomber and his accomplices sought to harm those protesting against Falwell. Here’s a portion of the ABC report:
A small group of protesters gathered near the funeral services to criticize the man who mobilized Christian evangelicals and made them a major force in American politics -- often by playing on social prejudices.
A group of students from Falwell's Liberty University staged a counter protest. And Campbell County authorities arrested a Liberty University student for having several homemade bombs in his car.
The student, 19-year-old Mark D. Uhl of Amissville, Va., reportedly told authorities that he was making the bombs to stop protesters from disrupting the funeral service. The devices were made of a combination of gasoline and detergent, a law enforcement official told ABC News' Pierre Thomas. They were "slow burn," according to the official, and would not have been very destructive.
"There were indications that there were others involved in the manufacturing of these devices and we are still investigating these individuals with the assistance of ATF [Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms], Virginia State Police and FBI. At this time it is not believed that these devices were going to be used to interrupt the funeral services at Liberty University," the Campbell County Sheriff's Office said in a release.
Three other suspects are being sought, one of whom is a soldier from Fort Benning, Ga., and another is a high school student. No information was available on the third suspect.
As John Aravosis at AmericaBlog notes, this incident demonstrates how dangerous the rhetoric of the Religious Right really is. This religious right terrorist wasn't some Islamic nutjob in some far away land. Rather, he was one of Falwell’s students at Liberty University (which I view as an embarrassment to the Commonwealth of Virginia). Worse yet, he was not acting alone. America truly has its own Christian Taliban. Will Homeland Security put these types under surveillance like they have done with some gay groups? Sadly, I doubt it. Bush would never want to upset Daddy Dobson by "persecuting" Christians.
A small group of protesters gathered near the funeral services to criticize the man who mobilized Christian evangelicals and made them a major force in American politics -- often by playing on social prejudices.
A group of students from Falwell's Liberty University staged a counter protest. And Campbell County authorities arrested a Liberty University student for having several homemade bombs in his car.
The student, 19-year-old Mark D. Uhl of Amissville, Va., reportedly told authorities that he was making the bombs to stop protesters from disrupting the funeral service. The devices were made of a combination of gasoline and detergent, a law enforcement official told ABC News' Pierre Thomas. They were "slow burn," according to the official, and would not have been very destructive.
"There were indications that there were others involved in the manufacturing of these devices and we are still investigating these individuals with the assistance of ATF [Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms], Virginia State Police and FBI. At this time it is not believed that these devices were going to be used to interrupt the funeral services at Liberty University," the Campbell County Sheriff's Office said in a release.
Three other suspects are being sought, one of whom is a soldier from Fort Benning, Ga., and another is a high school student. No information was available on the third suspect.
As John Aravosis at AmericaBlog notes, this incident demonstrates how dangerous the rhetoric of the Religious Right really is. This religious right terrorist wasn't some Islamic nutjob in some far away land. Rather, he was one of Falwell’s students at Liberty University (which I view as an embarrassment to the Commonwealth of Virginia). Worse yet, he was not acting alone. America truly has its own Christian Taliban. Will Homeland Security put these types under surveillance like they have done with some gay groups? Sadly, I doubt it. Bush would never want to upset Daddy Dobson by "persecuting" Christians.
1 comment:
While I should be surprised by news stories like this, somehow I'm not. What a shame.
I wonder at what point did we as a society become so polarized? I'm racking my brain trying to figure out at what point did we take such a nasty turn.
Whatever happened to live and let live?
Sigh.
Post a Comment