Burned Book Of Mormon Investigated As Bias-Motivated Crime In Colorado

Though it is quite clear that anti-Prop 8 activist have targeted Mormon temples in California--what Ed at Hot Air dubs "open season" on Mormons--including envelopes containing white powder, a burning copy of the Book of Mormon found outside a Littleton temple is now being investigated as a bias-motivated arson:

A fire outside a Littleton church is being investigated as a bias-motivated arson that may have stemmed from the church's position on a gay marriage amendment in California.

Arapahoe County sheriff's deputies responded to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints about 7 p.m. Tuesday after a church member found a burning copy of the Book of Mormon on a door step.

The caller who reported the fire told authorities that an LDS facilities manager indicated the incident may have been in retaliation for the church's stance on Proposition 8, passed in California last week.

Though speculation Wednesday was that the arson was in some way related to the furor over California's passage of Proposition 8 which banned same-sex marriage, the decision to move the investigation in the direction of bias-motivation comes just one day before Colorado groups join others across America in protest sets up a curious stage for advocates of same-sex marriage. Can victims of bias (what they allege) be guilty of bias themselves?

Civil Sense has some more observations on this form of counter-productive protesting.