In 1988, the film Mississippi Burning was released. The motion picture is loosely based on the events surrounding the murder of three Civil Rights workers in Philadelphia in 1964. I can remember walking into a small Nashville theatre to watch this so called “crime thriller” starring one of my favorite actors, Gene Hackman. Seeing the story come to life on the big screen, I had very little memory of the event being taught or retold during my younger years. I left the theatre with tears in my eyes seeing the loosely based story show the stains of racism of my home state. Now I’ve lived in six states and racism is alive and well in all of them. I tell folks that fact but with the caveat that “Mississippi just gets all the press for it.”
Well, once again, the national spotlight comes down on the Magnolia State as a 19-year old white kid from Madison allegedly set fire to the historic Beth Israel Synagogue in Jackson. It wasn’t the first time though. The synagogue’s beginnings are pre-Civil War, and just after the Philadelphia murders, the Ku Klux Klan bombed the temple’s office and the home of former Rabbi Perry Nussbaum. No one was hurt in those incidents and the only person hurt in the recent arson was just the alleged arsonist himself. He actually posted photos of his burned hands on social media.
The Bible and Jesus tell us not to judge a man’s heart and the alleged arsonist proclaims to be a Christian. His actions would suggest otherwise and the hate spewed on his posts lends even more evidence. But just what did he think he would gain in this heinous act?
Stephen Spencer Pittman now faces a life that will include, if convicted, a five-to-20 year stay in federal prison, a fine of up to $250,000, three years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment. Pittman also faces a state charge of first-degree arson in connection to the incident. The charge is further enhanced under a hate crime provision, alleging the offense was committed because of the actual or perceived religion of the victim.
I don’t know how you store up that much hate in your heart at only 19. I’m sitting here at 62 trying to remember my 19-year old self. I was headed to Oxford in a loaded down Chevette with pretty much everything I owned. I don’t remember hating much back then much less to the level of actually burning down a church because of it. But I’m the guy that also tears up when Hoke tells Miss Daisy he’s trying to drive her to the store.
One tough part of the story is that the young man’s father had to turn him in when the son wouldn’t. Now the son will have to face his hate, face his demons and face his victims — all in federal court and probably state court. He’ll go away and have to think about what he’s done and what he’s thrown away due to the hate that has wreaked havoc in his young life. A father perhaps has lost a son but hopefully will gain a new one with new perspective, though that doesn’t look like it will happen anytime soon based on his social media posts.
The temple will survive and be fixed and renovated, standing tall in the face of hate once again that has failed to bring it down. Let’s pray for all involved and lend a helping hand if we can where needed. We need to work each day to put out the fires of Mississippi Burning. It seems those flames keep smoldering as long as hate has oxygen. Let’s pray to choke that out by pouring love all over it. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude."
