Annandale area religious leaders have condemned a racist attack on a Barack Obama campaign sign in Southside Township, and the Wright County Sheriff’s Department has begun an investigation. Someone sprayed KKK across both sides of his Obama for president sign along Pittman Avenue the night of Wednesday, Oct. 8, resident Adam Sparks has said. The culprit also left the carcass of a dead raccoon at the base of the sign. Obama, a Democrat, is the first African American presidential nominee of a major party, and KKK stands for Ku Klux Klan, an organization that is synonymous with racial violence. In a letter to the Annandale Area Ministerial Association last week, Sister Carol Schmit of the Order of St. Francis at Clare’s Well said she was "shocked and saddened … that a heinous crime was committed in our community." She urged "the entire Christian community of Annandale (to) unite in denouncing this crime and working in whatever way possible to let our children know that it is not only not acceptable but sinful to slur another person." Rev. Marilee Benson, pastor of the Annandale United Methodist Church, agreed. "We need to denounce it and say this is not what we’re about," Benson said. "Methodists have always had a stance of valuing ethnic minorities and what they bring to us, so this is just blatantly against our beliefs." Benson said she didn’t know whether the Pittman Avenue incident was a prank, but she considers it a hate crime because it was racist. Anytime someone writes the letters KKK on a sign the intended message is racism, which is hate, she said. The symbolism of the raccoon is also about racism, she said, because it’s a reminder of a time when black people were disparagingly called "coons." In the United Methodist Church, "we consider racism a sin," she said. "We value all people. God created all people regardless of skin color." Benson said she had already discussed the incident with a group of confirmation students last week. She also planned to bring it up at prayer time of last Sunday’s service when "we will pray for all of us in this election year," including the candidates. Lt. Dan Anselment of the sheriff’s department patrol division said the incident is being actively investigated, but he had no new information from the investigation division. The department had received some calls from the public about the case. Thorough investigation "The public has an expectation that we conduct a complete and thorough investigation," he said. Rev. Heather Klason, pastor of the Zion United Methodist Church in South Haven and Kimball United Methodist Church, also condemned the incident because it’s offensive to her faith. She didn’t know whether it fit the legal definition of a hate crime, but it involved two symbols that are "inflamatory and racist." "I don’t think that’s funny and I don’t think it’s meant to be funny." Klason planned to address the matter at prayer time with both of her congregations. One of the prayers would be that the vandals responsible find a different way to express themselves. Rev. Timothy Nerud, pastor of Concordia Lutheran Church in Fair Haven, said he was shocked and appalled to hear about the sign attack. It’s a pretty good possibility he’ll address the issue in his next newsletter, Nerud said. It’s clear that it was an expression of racism, he said, and the Lutheran Church is against any sort of racism. "Coming from the Christian perspective, all people are equally created by God, equally received by the blood of Christ and equally sought after by the Gospel. "Racism just doesn’t fit into that."
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