This just in from our Alaska Bureau, reporting from Wasilla:
The investigation into the fire that nearly destroyed the Wasilla Bible Church, the religious home of former Vice-Presidential candidate and evangelical-right favorite Sarah Palin, widened this week when the Central Mat-Su Fire Department and the Alaska State Fire Marshals Office requested assistance from the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. The onsite investigation revealed that an accelerant had been used in multiple locations to spread the fire. No injuries were reported, though the structure sustained more than $1 million of damage.
In September the church held a
Focus on the Family's ‘Love Won Out’ conference, the aim of which is to "to transform the lives of those impacted by homosexuality". Because of this, some on the right are
labelling the fire a "hate crime" and an "arson and attempted murder...perpetrated by advocates of homosexual marriage". These allegations were
repeated by Fox News’ Greta Van Susteren in an interview with Palin, who then apologized to the congregation if her candidacy brought "undeserved negative attention’ to the church".
The charges come at an especially delicate moment for President-elect Obama, who faces criticism from gay rights advocates because he picked Rick Warren to give the inauguration invocation. Warren is the superchurch pastor who put forward California's Proposition 8, which restricted the definition of marriage to a union between a man and a woman.
It remains to be seen whether or not Wasilla will become a hotbed of political activism or the Ground Zero of a yet unidentified gay anarchist collective, but we will keep you posted.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008 at 15:30 