The Man on Fire
An Indiana man hostile to organized Christianity has been sentenced to 42 years in prison for arson attacks at more than two dozen U.S. churches in the mid- and late-1990s.
Jay Scott Ballinger, 38, had confessed to attacks on more than 25 churches in at least eight states in the southern and Midwest United States. A self-described "missionary of Lucifer", Ballinger faces further charges for five church fires in Georgia.
He was sentenced November 14 after pleading guilty in July to 20 counts of destroying church property. He was also ordered to pay $3.6 million in restitution.
Ballinger's crimes were part of what was labeled a national epidemic of church fires in the 1990s. Hundreds of such fires were set, many of them at churches with mainly black congregations, leading to claims by the National Council of Churches (NCC) that they were racially motivated. Partly because of the NCC campaign, the attacks became a subject of intense discussion across the U.S., prompting expressions of concern by President Bill Clinton, and the establishment of the National Church Arson Task Force.
Ballinger who is white, attacked both mainly black and mainly white churches. He carried out more acts of arson than any other church arsonist, authorities said.
Excerpt from "' Missionary of Lucifer' Pleads Guilty to Church Burnings" Chris Herlinger (December 2000)
RELATED ARTICLES
Christianity Today "Suspect Arrested for Church Burnings" (April 1999)
U.S. Department of Justice "#569-11-14-00 Indiana Man Sentenced to Over 42 years for Setting 26 Churches Ablaze" (November 2000)
Chicago Tribune News "42-year sentence for Man who Burned 26 Churches" (November 2000)
ABC News "Stripper Sentenced in Church Burnings" (November 2000)
Jay Scott Ballinger, 38, had confessed to attacks on more than 25 churches in at least eight states in the southern and Midwest United States. A self-described "missionary of Lucifer", Ballinger faces further charges for five church fires in Georgia.
He was sentenced November 14 after pleading guilty in July to 20 counts of destroying church property. He was also ordered to pay $3.6 million in restitution.
Ballinger's crimes were part of what was labeled a national epidemic of church fires in the 1990s. Hundreds of such fires were set, many of them at churches with mainly black congregations, leading to claims by the National Council of Churches (NCC) that they were racially motivated. Partly because of the NCC campaign, the attacks became a subject of intense discussion across the U.S., prompting expressions of concern by President Bill Clinton, and the establishment of the National Church Arson Task Force.
Ballinger who is white, attacked both mainly black and mainly white churches. He carried out more acts of arson than any other church arsonist, authorities said.
Excerpt from "' Missionary of Lucifer' Pleads Guilty to Church Burnings" Chris Herlinger (December 2000)
RELATED ARTICLES
Christianity Today "Suspect Arrested for Church Burnings" (April 1999)
U.S. Department of Justice "#569-11-14-00 Indiana Man Sentenced to Over 42 years for Setting 26 Churches Ablaze" (November 2000)
Chicago Tribune News "42-year sentence for Man who Burned 26 Churches" (November 2000)
ABC News "Stripper Sentenced in Church Burnings" (November 2000)
POST-SCRIPT: Ultimately, Ballinger and his cohorts were not convicted of the church burnings in Boligee, AL. Almost a decade after these church fires, however, several more church fires in rural Alabama occurred, one in Boligee. Three men were prosecuted and convicted of church arson. To learn more about this case, read the following related articles:
CNN News "Arson suspected in church fires"
NBC News "Fires at four more Alabama churches"
Alabama Media Group "Church arsonist finishes federal time for burning nine rural churches" by Greg Garrison
An important thing to remember about church burnings is that several of these crimes do not only happen in the South. In fact, Ballinger himself burned several churches in his home state of Indiana (part of the Midwest.) Then, in November 2008, a predominantly Black church in Springfield, MA burned down shortly after President Barack Obama's first election. Read the following articles to learn more about this church fire:
U.S. Department of Justice #09-052: Arrests Made in Springfield, MA Church Arson
NBC News "Arsonists jailed for torching black church only hours after Obama's election victory"
New York Times "Up From the Ashes, a Symbol that Hate Does not Win"
CNN News "Arson suspected in church fires"
NBC News "Fires at four more Alabama churches"
Alabama Media Group "Church arsonist finishes federal time for burning nine rural churches" by Greg Garrison
An important thing to remember about church burnings is that several of these crimes do not only happen in the South. In fact, Ballinger himself burned several churches in his home state of Indiana (part of the Midwest.) Then, in November 2008, a predominantly Black church in Springfield, MA burned down shortly after President Barack Obama's first election. Read the following articles to learn more about this church fire:
U.S. Department of Justice #09-052: Arrests Made in Springfield, MA Church Arson
NBC News "Arsonists jailed for torching black church only hours after Obama's election victory"
New York Times "Up From the Ashes, a Symbol that Hate Does not Win"