Lives of burned church pastors and their families continue to be threatened. These attacks are linked to other acts of attempted murder, klan rallies and other gatherings, as burnings have become the professed harbinger of a race war at the turn of the millennium. Burnings can be part of an initiation rite of passage into hate groups, linked to the Christian knights of the klan and other white supremacist groups. Much Work and Healing Needed Even for those churches which have rebuilt, there is much work and healing yet to be done. Rev. Donaldson of Salem Missionary Baptist Church in Humboldt, TN says he is blessed to have his church rebuilt, but needs resources to reconstruct the Church's outreach ministries.
Many churches remain un-built, unable to get needed funds or bank loans.
Fires are said to have been caused by faulty electrical wiring, by improperly extinguished cigarette butts, in one case a rat was said to have caused the fire by chewing through an electrical wire. But pastors speak of the unmanageable hurdles attempting to get guarantees and loans. The local sheriff reported to the newspaper that the fire was likely due to the very old structure's electrical wiring. We need your help clipping newspaper reports and printing out World Wide Web news reports on hate crime activity in your community and elsewhere. Hate crimes are under reported by victims and news services.