This Time it's Clover Road Baptist Church: 'Everybody Knows' What Those People are Like

News coverage's been fairly even-handed, covering Sandra Cantu's murder - apparently at the hands of a

• Sunday school teacher
• Granddaughter of a Baptist Pastor
• Who's apparently been arrested before
  • The granddaughter, not the pastor

The KCRA video in this blog's "In the news" links gives a pretty good summary.

So what? As I wrote before,

First: A Lot of People Who Knew Sandra Cantu Could Use Prayer

It's just a suggestion: but you might consider praying for Sandra's family, and people in Tracy. That's just a suggestion. You have a free will: use it.

Second: Beware Assumptions and Speculation

The rumors are getting better and better, apparently. Including one about the suitcase that Sandra was dumped in coming from a Clover Road Baptist Church yard sale. The pastor's wife says that the last yard sale was maybe ten years ago - which makes the connection pretty remote.

But improbability - or impossibility - doesn't stop rumors.

Besides, it was the pastor's wife who said that the last yard sale was maybe ten years ago - maybe they're all in on it. Or, while we're at it, maybe they're all shape shifting space alien lizard people. When it comes to rumor and speculation, the sky's the limit.

Blame a Previous Generation?

It's been decades since "Mommy Dearest" was among the most popular 'what my awful parent(s) did to me' tell-alls. Sometimes an earlier generation does have something to do with the tattered career, disastrous personal life, and/or substance abuse issues of celebrities. Sometimes not-so-famous people have sad backgrounds.

We also, each of us, has a conscience. That's an old-fashioned, maybe corny, term these days. That doesn't change the importance of having a well-formed conscience (Catechism, Article 6, Daniel 13:9, 1TM 1: 18-1, for starters)

I wrote about slander and gossip in another post. Bottom line: slander isn't nice and we shouldn't do it.

It looks like the case of who killed Sandra Cantu, and why, is going to be very messy. In a way, it's going to be a big opportunity for practicing patience and other virtues.

And, I'm afraid that it will also be an opportunity to watch mud being flung at a particular group, with particular attention to a few individuals in that group.

It looks very much like something bad was done to Sandra Cantu. Law enforcement has arrested one person: a granddaughter of Clover Road Baptist Church's pastor. There's no reason to believe that the pastor's family, and Clover Road Baptist Church, are all involved.

I'm afraid, though, that if it hasn't already started, the familiar old 'guilt by association' business will soon appear.

"Tracy Pastor, Wife Speak About Sandra Cantu"

KSBWTV, YouTube (April 10, 2009)
video 3:09

Related post:

• "Sandra Cantu's Dead: Time for Prayer and Thought"
  (April 7, 2009)

In the news:

• "10:40 a.m.: Melissa Huckaby is only suspect in Sandra Cantu slaying, police say"
  MercuryNews.com, San Jose Mercury News (April 11, 2009)
• "Calif. Sunday school teacher booked in child death"
  The Associated Press (April 11, 2009)
• "Pastor's Granddaughter Arrested In Cantu's Death"
  KCRA, YouTube (April 11, 2009)
• "Pastor's granddaughter arrested in Sandra Cantu slaying"
  SFGATE, The San Francisco Chronicle (April 11, 2009)
• "Sunday-school teacher arrested in killing of California girl"
  CNN (April 11, 2009)
• "Teacher held over death of child"
  The Press Association (April 11, 2009)
• "Tracy Pastor, Wife Speak About Sandra Cantu"
  KSBWTV, YouTube (April 10, 2009)