On Easter morning, a trailer loaded with Bibles was set on fire outside an evangelical church in Tennessee. The pastor of the church, known for his far-right views, condemned the act as a “100 per cent” deliberate.
Around 6 a.m., police and firefighters responded to a trailer fire incident at an intersection outside the Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, a city around 20 miles east of Nashville, the capital of the state of Tennessee. The Wilson County Sheriff’s Office reported that the blaze was “promptly extinguished”.
Pastor Greg Locke, the outspoken preacher of Global Vision Bible Church shared images of the charred trailer and Bibles on social media. He said CCTV video captured a person parking the trailer in front of the church and then setting it on fire.
“And so he unhooks the trailer and douses it with gasoline, with fuel, and then—there were probably 200 Bibles,” Locke said. “I don’t know where he got them.”
Locke says his church has been a victim of repeated attacks in the past. “We’ve had people do things to our building, we’ve been vandalized several times, hence why we have to have security, but never 200 Bibles being burned” .
“That’s a pretty rebellious statement towards the church.”
Pastor Locke, known for his strong support for former President Donald Trump who is re-contesting the American presidential election, framed the incident as evidence of Christianity under siege in the United States and encouraged his audience to reject passivity and stand firm in their beliefs.
“If you think that Christianity is not under attack more than ever before in the United States of America, you have not been paying attention.
“You need to get your head out of the sand,” he admonished. “Quit being lukewarm—quit being so passive-aggressive and mamby-pamby and spiritually sissified.”
The investigation is ongoing and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is involved. Although no arrests have been made so far, the incident is seen as a hate crime – which is a federal offence in the United States.
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