Christian hate-preacher Greg Locke, of Global Vision Bible Church in Tennessee, plans to hold his second book burning spectacle on Halloween, proving once again that spreading the Gospel is a much lower priority than literally fanning the flames of a culture war.
There’s a lot of insanity in that rant, but a few parts stand out:
Brace yourself, this will be a controversial post. The world had a melt down this past February when our church had a public burning of occult related items. I’ve been called Hitler 10,000 times for burning books and such. The news media was unsparing and the witchcraft world hasn’t stopped talking about it for the last 8 months…
On HALLOWEEN NIGHT, at 7:00PM, we will once again gather in our church parking lot and have a massive burning. The criticism doesn’t move us and we will not be bullied…
Bring every form of witchcraft, the occult, new age, satanism and sorcery. It ALL NEEDS TO GO!! Cleanse your home from Harry Potter and “play” witchcraft. It’s evil and should not be tolerated. Burn the dream catchers, spell books, healing crystals and Yoga related nonsense. If you want the curse removed from your home, you need to dispose of ANYTHING THAT IS CONNECTED TO THE EVIL OF THE MASONIC LODGE. I will not argue over such a wicked organization. Even the Masonic Network refuses to publicly debate me because they know I will expose all of their secret and demonic practices. Burn every Masonic book, including the so called Bibles that are filled with witchcraft symbolism and false doctrine. Burn every ring, pendant, apron and Shriners hat. It’s all cursed. Clean out those DVD cabinets and burn all those horror and murderous movies. Rid yourself of ungodly and devilish music. Clear out satanic symbols, board games, Catholic statues, rosary beads, tarot cards and demonic games like Dungeons and Dragons and Pokémon.
He’s referring to a similar bonfire he created in February, when he announced he would burn things like Ouija boards, tarot cards, and Harry Potter books.
Now he’s going well beyond that, eager to burn anything that fundamentalist Christians like him might find the least bit threatening to their way of life. It’s not just board games and “spell books.” It’s “Catholic statues” and “rosary beads,” too. Because in the world of MAGA Christianity, even the existence of other Christians who worship differently from you requires over-the-top outrage.
While the bonfire itself is symbolic at best, it’s important to consider the message these cultists are sending. At a time when antisemitism is pervasive on the Right, conspiracy theories have taken over churches like these, and the rights of women and LGBTQ people are under constant attack, Locke wants the world to know that no one is safe unless they agree fully with him. He gets to decide what’s harmless and what’s demonic. No childhood toy or challenging book is safe in his world.
What purpose does this serve? It’s not like these items are the only copies in existence. The books are going to remain in circulation. And the people who attend his church are arguably not people who were using these items, anyway. Greg Locke is the sort of person who rails against “cancel culture” and intolerance while calling everything he opposes demonic, never acknowledging the history of book burning because he’s either too ignorant to understand it or fully aware of the fan base he’s appealing to.
He’s done all this before in other ways, too. He began a witch hunt against disobedient members of his church. He burned a copy of atheist Andrew Seidel’s book debunking the “Christian Nation” myth in 2019. And he’s creating a bonfire to destroy Monopoly tokens and rosary beads.
It may get Locke the headlines he wants, but his publicity stunt will only serve to make Christianity writ large look even more deranged and incapable of living in a diverse society.