<p>I really hope justice will be served.</p>
<p>Boy we can be, me included, a contentious bunch.</p>
<p>"Mama always says, “Stupid is as stupid does.” - Forrest Gump</p>
<p>If what these young men says is true and they set 8 more fires to cover the first one, what they did was stupid. It was beyond stupid because they now get to multiply their sentence by nine. Was it driven by evil or wickedness? Possibly. But in the end, what they did was stupid indeed.</p>
<p>I’m just glad they caught them! And, I’m glad they’re going to throw the book at them; I don’t really care why they did it or what their background was!</p>
<p>I second what someone wrote here about this not being the first incident that these kids have participated in. You don’t go from “Joe Normal” to burning down 10 churches. I bet if you interviewed kids who knew them they’d be able to shed some light on what kind of kids these really were.</p>
<p>Dke…it’s actually an interesting point you brought out about interviewing kids that knew them. Again, I’m from Birmingham and so this is our main news right now. It’s all over our papers. Our news last night consisted of severe weather, the SEC basketball tournament, and these three boys. They have interviewed all sorts of people who knew them growing up including friends and teachers. They have all painted a positive picture of them. They interviewed one who grew up going to church with one of the suspects and participating in youth group with him. (this church is actually about a mile or two from my house) ALL of the people interviewed have said they are completely shocked because this doesn’t fit the kids they know.</p>
<p>However…it’s recently been reported that on one of their Facebook sites one of the suspects referred to himself as a Satanist. He said something to the effect that he wanted to go against the establishment they were raised in including the values and Jesus…horrible paraphrasing on my part but I don’t have it in front of me. A friend of one has come out and said that one of the suspects invited him to go demon hunting with him. Now, there is a LOT of hunting that goes on in Alabame, but demon hunting is not usually one of the popular types. =) It seems from these interviews and articles that two very different pictures are emerging. One is the picture of kids who achieved in high school and had a strong faith. The second of is kids who are experimenting in some dark stuff.</p>
<p>There is something sociopathic about covering up the first arson with many more. I remember running into a Birmingham Southern group in Europe when I was in college…very conservative and upper middle class group. We will be learning more about this group of confused boys…very traumatic experience for the churches of Alabama, the college, the parents and the community. Something missing here which will come out over time. I see jail time for all.</p>