The pastor of a Kentucky Baptist church has blamed the spread of “misinformation” after his church drew criticism after a viral video showed staff conducting a mock firing squad in front of children.
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The video, posted on Reddit, shows men in military-style costumes marching down the center aisle of Lexington’s Mount Olivet Baptist Church and pretending to fire at a person dressed in black on the steps to the altar. Children sitting nearby can be heard yelling, “Take him away. Blow him up.”
An explosion was then heard as costumed men carried a figure dressed in black outside.
Pastor Dwayne Walker referred to the “firestorm” surrounding the video clip in a Facebook post on Monday. He said he was “embarrassed” by the outrageous act.
“The misinformation that’s out there is sad. I think it’s part of the way this generation is,” Walker said in part.
He said the viral video shows an event that is “just a small part of our holiday Bible school,” adding that the church has been holding similar ceremonies for more than 30 years.
“Every year we have characters who represent good and justice and God, but we also have characters who represent evil and wrong and what we should avoid,” Walker said, explaining that the “skits” are an attempt to make church “fun.”
“Every year, for 32 years, we’ve been doing Good Against Evil (rituals) at vacation Bible school. For the last few years, we’ve been doing Special Forces for Christ,” Walker said, adding in part, “The footage you saw was just killing the devil.”
“People might think we went too far,” Walker added. “You may think that’s a little extreme, and maybe you’re right, but don’t you believe that the devil is taking really extreme measures with this generation?”
Mount Olivet Baptist Church did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.
The video drew some criticism from the Kentucky chapter of Moms Demand Action, an organization focused on preventing gun violence. In a statement to the Lexington Herald-Ledger, volunteers with the group called the video “incredibly disturbing.”
“Vacation Bible School and our church should be safe places for children,” Crowe said in a statement, according to the newspaper. “Subjecting children to a full-scale mock tactical assault and firing squad is a horrific abuse of that very space and a serious breach of trust that cannot go unaddressed.”
The Kentucky chapter of Moms Demand Action did not respond to requests for comment.
Similarly, the viral video sparked an outpouring of criticism on Reddit, with one user calling the skit “depraved.”
Another Reddit user wrote: “There’s not enough context in the world to make this okay.”
