wfn.org | United Methodists continue efforts to counter hate crimes

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

July 20, 2000 News media contact: Linda Bloom·(212) 870-3803·New York
10-21-71B{333}

By Adeyemi Oshodi*

NEW YORK (UMNS)-Through witness, support and education, the United Methodist
Board of Global Ministries is uniting with others to find new responses to
counter hate crimes. 

Collaborating with church leaders, community members, and anti-hate groups,
the board's task force on Ministry in the Midst of Hate and Violence
recently renewed its call for a continued and thorough investigation into
the hanging death of Raymond Johnson, a 17-year-old African American youth,
in rural Kokomo, Miss.

Johnson was found hanging by a belt from a pecan tree in his front yard on
June 16. Though authorities have ruled the death a suicide, the youth's
family insists that he was murdered in an act of racial hatred.  They
suggest Johnson was killed by a group of white men who had previously
harassed him in public when they saw him with a white woman.

The teen's death attracted the attention of the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, who have organized rallies and met with government
officials urging further investigation.  

After attending a rally in Kokomo, Sandra Peters, a board consultant for
Ministry in the Midst of Hate and Violence, emphasized the need for national
and local faith agencies to work together to solve the case.  "We need to
witness and try to provide the victims and the victimized community with a
faithful response," said Peters. 

In evaluating this case as well as several others, the board task force
worked with its Women's Division to identify hate crime laws in each state.
These inquiries are part of a national network where United Methodist Women
write state legislators to obtain hate crime laws and draft legislation.
The program seeks to inform and empower citizens to support or improve each
state's hate crime laws.

Lesley Crosson, a board executive, said empowering the public is a vital
step toward reducing hate crimes. "It's so important that people know that
hate crimes occur every single day," she explained. "The church needs to be
at the forefront, calling attention to the fact that this is going on."  

Crosson noted that attention must be focused on issues like church burnings,
which have faded from public light but are far from over. 

According to the National Coalition Church Burning Research Center, churches
continue to burn at an average rate of over 18 per month, with 130 this year
alone.  Officials note that the fires are occurring in the same geographical
location -- southern and mid-western states.  They suggest that hatred of
race, gender, or religion were factors in each fire.

Religion was truly a factor when an Indiana man pleaded guilty in July to
setting 26 churches on fire over a five-year period that ended in 1999.  Jay
Scott Ballinger, who calls himself a missionary of Lucifer, entered his plea
in federal court in Indianapolis. Justice Department reports note Ballinger
frequently expressed malice toward Christianity.

Among the churches he confessed to setting on fire were Sumach United
Methodist Church, Wardell, Mo.; Milledgeville (Ind.) United Methodist
Church; Pleasant Hill Methodist Church, Elkton, Ky.; Stidham United
Methodist Church, Lafayette, Ind. and Community United Methodist Church,
Brookville, Ohio.
Fires that damaged Providence United Methodist Church and destroyed a
Baptist church in Elmore County, Ala., on June 6 have recently been ruled
arson by the Alabama Fire Marshal.
"Hate crimes continue," Crosson said. "Though it is not reported, churches
continue to burn."

The Board of Global Ministries is continuing to help those damaged churches
and their communities in many ways.  Through donations, they have provided
financial contributions and materials to assist in rebuilding numerous
burned churches.  

The mission agency has enlisted the help of the public to track church
burnings across the nation.  They created a network where people collect and
send them newspaper clippings regarding church arsons.  Organizers say the
network has helped them discover patterns between the crimes.  

As part of the initiative to assist communities, the task force also is
working with the Center for Democratic Renewal to update the publication,
"When Hate Crimes Come to Town."  The updated book will include information
on how churches can respond to hate crimes, as well as how to track
Internet-related hate groups.  

In coordination with the Women's Division, the task force is documenting
incidents of any hate-based crimes. The information is being stored in a
database that eventually will be used for research. Their collection, Peters
noted, is becoming one of the largest in the nation.  

More information about the work of the Ministry in the Midst of Hate and
Violence program is available at the Board of Global Ministries Web site at
www.gbgm-umc.org. 

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*Oshodi, a student at Miami University of Ohio, is a short-term intern for
United Methodist News Service.

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United Methodist News Service
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