Sarah Palin and her church’s religious teachings are again making headlines — or at least propelling conversation.

The Alaska governor’s church, Wasilla Baptist Church, literally came under fire this weekend in what appears to be arson. And, considering the suspicious nature of the incident, one can’t help but wonder whether the church was specifically targeted because of Palin’s long history there. That’s one of the theories, of course, and has brought Palin’s right-leaning beliefs — and past scandals — back into the spotlight.

As Colin Powell pointed out last week, Palin was certainly a polarizing figure during her short stint on the campaign trail. She fired up supporters and burned up critics. But who would hate this woman enough to torch her church? Probably plenty of wackos, but some seem to be speculating that the “suspect class” can be narrowed a bit.

You may recall that last September, as people were just starting to examine Palin’s background, it came to light that her church had distributed a flyer for Love Won Out, a group that claims it can “cure” gay people. [There was also a scandal in which Palin was accused of asking her local library to remove gay-themed books from its shelves when she was mayor. She denied the charge.] Obviously gay people were not amused and called on Mrs. Palin to explain herself. It became a small thorn in her side, and one that Palin tried to avoid. Sure, the topic came up a bit, but it never became the headline grabber it could have during previous elections, when the culture wars raged. Well, the topic came up last night when Palin sat down with Fox News’s Greta van Susteren.

After discussing whether Wasilla was targeted because of Palin, van Susteren raises this point: “There was one little controversy that was brewing that the pastor was trying to explain to us about gays and some sort of meeting in Anchorage. Do you know about that at all, what that controversy was?” Of course both women know exactly what van Susteren means. Palin does her best to sugarcoat the scandal and describes the flyer as “[having] to do with those who wanted some assistance or some kind of counseling in dealing with any struggles that they would have regarding homosexuality. And it was a seminar that was advertised at the church.”

Well, that’s part of the story. Love Won Out endorses "reparative therapy," which approaches homosexuality as a reversible disorder. Those who undergo a successful routine come out "ex-gay." The entire process remains highly controversial and the American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association, the American Medical Association and scores of other health groups have come out against the practice. Later, when asked whether gay people are welcome at her church, Palin describes Wasilla as “quite open in terms of welcoming people into the church and assisting anyone who desires assistance or counseling or help.” What she means by that remains unclear.

What is clear, however, is that Wasilla Baptist is in a bad way for the holidays. The church had just undergone a major renovation and this weekend’s fire caused an estimated $1 million in damages. And be sure Palin’s planning on helping get things back on track. And, really, that’s all one can do.