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| Conservative anti-LGBTQ pastor Greg Locke prepares to throw a bunch of books into a bonfire (as seen in the below tweet) |
As everyone knows, there is presently a nationwide hysteria with regards to the banning of books. This is because some felt that they would warp the minds of children by encouraging discussion on racism and other controversial issues amongst kids especially confirm the existence of LGBTQ people.
Probably the most attention-grabbing incident was a school in Tennessee banning a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about The Holocaust entitled Maus. Apparently the state isn't done with the issue as of yet because a controversial pastor who spreads misinformation about COVID decided to take it all a step further.
He held an event in which there was an actual banning of books. According to The Nashville Scene:
Last week, McMinn County made news when the school board voted to ban beloved graphic novel Maus — a Holocaust story told with anthropomorphic mice and cats — due to instances of swear words and nudity. While the vote happened in early January, it went viral following a report from TN Holler.Last night, Mt. Juliet pastor and pro-Trump conspiracy theorist Greg Locke decided to turn it up a notch by organizing an old-fashioned book burning. The books included millennial staples like Harry Potter and Twilight — hits of the early Aughts that were targeted by Christian book burnings back in the day. In a sermon preceding the bonfire,Locke described beefing with "Free Mason devils" and said "I ain't gonna be 'suiciding myself' no time soon." Locke also said people aren't mad that they were burning books, but mad because of the books they were burning — implying that his critics, even other pastors, were devil and witchcraft supporters.
Republicans are now literally burning books pic.twitter.com/zAJHl2HY4q
— MeidasTouch.com (@MeidasTouch) February 3, 2022
Locke is a very interesting figure in Baptist circles and isn't necessarily liked. Last year, he was banned from Twitter for spreading wild misinformation about COVID and vaccines. In addition, he believes that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump and is also - surprise, surprise - rabidly homophobic even to the point of playing the "gays are pedophiles and they want to have sex with children" card.
He's a nut, but he is also an empowered nut. And that is the problem.
Still, he has his uses. No matter harmless some conservatives and members of the religious right cast their plans, there is always one in the crowd eager to rip off the mask of faked levity and reveal just how sordid they all are.
And we should always be grateful for the existence of that fool.
Editor's note - Picture and tweet courtesy of Tennessee Holler. Big props for breaking this story.
