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Fire badly damages Palin's church in Alaska (Minneapolis Star-Tribune, December 14, 2008)

Gov. Sarah Palin's home church was badly damaged by a fire, leading the governor to apologize if the blaze was connected to "undeserved negative attention" from her failed campaign as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele.

He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson but he didn't know of any recent threats to the church.

Michael Fumento and the tragically-departed Michael Kelly have done a fine job debunking the notion that church fires--which aren't unusual--are generally hate driven, back when Bill Clinton was milking the notion that black churches were being targeted.

Sure, people who hate God are nutters and may torch a church, but there's a whole host of other reasons that churches burn and are favored by arsonists. They're often old, wooden, open or have no security and minimal fire protection. That's not to say that this instance may not have been arson or even the church chosen deliberately to send some sort of message. But it should caution us that such isn't the most likely explanation.

Posted by Orrin Judd at December 14, 2008 11:44 AM