and gets charged with 2nd-degree arson. Last week, as you may (or may not), have heard, David Robert McMenemy attempted to destroy an abortion clinic in Davenport, IA by dousing his car in gasoline and driving it through the wall of the Edgerton Women’s Health Center.

edit – It’s been brought to my attention that Mr. McMenemy drove through the front doors and not a wall. It has also been claimed by a nearby resident that the gasoline was added after crashing through the doors, although this article disputes that.

Fortunately, no one was hurt because he reconsidered lighting himself on fire for God at the last moment. And laughably, the clinic he attempted to destroy does not even perform abortions.

Schadenfreude aside, this is a terrorist act. He should be tried as a terrorist. (Perhaps we should torture him in a secret prison in case he has friends who are also planning other actions. That is our policy now, right?) Second-degree arson is ridiculous. We lock foreigners (and sometimes Americans) up indefinitely in Guantanamo Bay for the slightest possible connections to Islamic terrorism. Yet, this Christian terrorist is charged with a minor felony? Absurd!

Class C felonies, which 2nd degree arson is in Iowa, are punishable by imprisonment of not more than 10 years and a fine between $1000 and $10,000 under Iowa law. He is getting off easy just because he believes in the right make-believe super hero.

For now, you may also believe in the “correct” deity, and find yourself safe from persecution for those beliefs. But consider what happens if public opinion turns or you have a change of heart, and you find yourself in the future’s minority? As a former President said yesterday, “Democracy is about way more than majority rule. Democracy is about minority rights, individual rights, restraints on power.” Lately, we’ve had far too many failures when it comes to living up to those words.

UPDATE David McMenemy’s case has been moved to federal court. He now faces a charge of “committing arson against a business affecting interstate commerce” which carries a prison term of between five and 20 years and a fine.