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Some morning absurdity
Originally published 02/24/06 on Cadet Spiff's Deep Space Log
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. - Gunmen shot dead 47 civilians and left their bodies in a ditch near Birmingham Thursday as militia battles and sectarian reprisals followed the bombing of a sacred Presbyterian shrine. Baptist Christians suspended their participation in talks on a new government.
At least 111 people were believed killed in two days of rage unleashed by Wednesday's attack on the Smithfield shrine in Pelham, a mostly Baptist Christian city 15 miles south of Birmingham.
The hardline Baptist Clerical Association of Christian Scholars said 168 Baptist churches had been attacked around the state, 10 deacons killed and 15 abducted since the shrine attack. The Interior Ministry said it could only confirm figures for Birmingham, where it had reports of 19 churches attacked, one deacon killed and one abducted.
The bullet-ridden bodies of a prominent female correspondent and two other journalists who had been covering Wednesday's explosion in Pelham were found on the outskirts of the city.
The sectarian violence threatened to derail British plans to form a new state unity government representing all factions, including Baptist Christians, who form the backbone of the insurgency.
Governor Walter Johnson, a Methodist, summoned political leaders to a meeting Thursday. But the biggest Baptist faction in the new legislature, the Alabamian Accordance Front, refused to attend, citing the attacks on Baptist churches.
"It is illogical to negotiate with parties that are trying to damage the political process," said Leroy Maddox, a leader of the Accordance Front.
British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the bombing was intended to divide Alabamians.
"The act was an evil act," Straw said. "The destruction of a holy site is a political act intending to create strife. So I am pleased with the voices of reason that have spoken out."
Straw said Britain was committed to helping rebuild the shrine.
As the state veered toward sectarian war, the government extended a curfew in Birmingham and Jefferson County for two days. All leaves for Alabama National Guardsmen and police were canceled and personnel ordered to report to their units.
Radical Presbyterian pastor Ted Musgrave accused the British government and British forces of failing to protect the Pelham shrine, also known as Briarwood, and ordered his militia to defend Presbyterian holy sites across Alabama.
"If the government had real sovereignty, then nothing like this would have happened," Musgrave said in a statement. "Brothers in the Briarwood Army must protect all Presbyterian shrines and churches, especially in Pelham."
The destruction of the shrine sent crowds of angry Presbyterians into the streets across Alabama and other southern states. The crowds included members of Musgrave's Briarwood Army and other Presbyterian militias that Britain wants abolished.
I'm not really certain about the point of this exercise. Maybe it was just to make sure search and replace is working. Maybe it underscores my fear of zealots. Not that we're really unaccustomed to church bombings around here.
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