A controversial, anti-LGBTQ pastor went off the rails during a sermon in which he accused some members of his congregation were witches and that they were on a mission to destroy the church.
A nearly two-minute video of right-wing pastor Greg Locke's raucous sermon–in which he said the word "witches" numerous times and threatened to expose the supposed coven infiltrating his house of God–went viral.
Locke, who was permanently banned from Twitter last September after spreading misinformation about COVID-19, had promoted former President Donald Trump's "big lie" and previously sermonized that only "crack-smoking, demon-possessed leftists" believe Biden won the presidential election.
You can watch Locke's bonkers sermon aimed at witches at his Global Vision Bible Church, here.
Earlier today, Pastor Greg Locke threatened to expose the six witches who are members of his church.pic.twitter.com/NSoTqQayQk— Hemant Mehta (@Hemant Mehta) 1644795456
“We’ve got first and last names of six witches that are in our church, and you know what’s strange?" asked the pastor who was suspicious of hocus pocus activity.
"Three of you are in this room right now. Three of you in the room right now."
As the riled crowd cheered him on, Locke continued:
“You better look in my eyeballs, ’cause we ain’t afraid of you, you stinkin’ witch, you devil-worshipping Satanist witch."
Locked waved his finger as his voice increased with intensity.
"We cast you out in the name of Jesus Christ. We break your spells, we break your curse. We got your first name, we got your last name, we even got an address for one of you.”
pic.twitter.com/rTYShj1Iyr— TruthFearsNoQuestions911 (@TruthFearsNoQuestions911) 1644836023
Far from being finished, he continued with rage:
“You so much as cough wrong, and I’ll expose you in front of everybody in this tent, you stinkin’ witch!"
"You were sent to this church to destroy us. You were sent to this church to lure us in. You were sent to this church to cast spell – listen, some of you been sick? Cause you befriended that witch!"
Twitter chimed in for a spell.
Wait, which which witch? Wut?pic.twitter.com/XiaHNMCj0T— Fred Garvin, Motivational Otter (@Fred Garvin, Motivational Otter) 1644796751
"my wife's Bible study"\n\nSomeone is married to this.— Jeffrey Eyges \ud83d\udc89 \ud83c\udf0a #BLM #M4A #PardonRealityWinner (@Jeffrey Eyges \ud83d\udc89 \ud83c\udf0a #BLM #M4A #PardonRealityWinner) 1644797457
And he mentions some of the congregation has been sick, "...because you befriended that witch." Is he alluding to COVID and blaming the illness on the "witches?" \n\nHow is he taken seriously by anyone?— Paul Lambert (@Paul Lambert) 1644805339
Some users wondered if he was hoodwinking his congregants to cover up his own possible indiscretions.
Gosh is his wife safe? Did the women tell her to leave because of an abuse situation and he's trying to isolate his wife??? This smacks of discrediting to abuse to me.— Colette (@Colette) 1644891701
I predict he\u2019s about to get 6 accusations of sexual assault and is trying to head it off at the pass\u2026— The Charioteer (@The Charioteer) 1644816255
That dude is a Warlock if I've ever seen a real Warlock before! Greg WarLocke it's so obvious and they don't even see it.— Brian Hinson (@Brian Hinson) 1644796730
Ima go ahead and assume this is a 100% bluff. Why would he do this? Is this a demand for loyalty at the risk of witch accusations? Are there unhappy grumblings in the flock that he wants to suppress? A retention strategy?— Sir Pepito Bismol, Earl of Blackstool (@Sir Pepito Bismol, Earl of Blackstool) 1644849097
6 women he\u2019s slept with that he don\u2019t want his wife to know about I reckon?— I am Groot #womenwontwheesht \ud83d\udc9c\u26aa\ufe0f\ud83d\udc9a (@I am Groot #womenwontwheesht \ud83d\udc9c\u26aa\ufe0f\ud83d\udc9a) 1644849762
Locke went on to claim two of the so-called witches were in his wife's Bible study group, and he threatened to expose who they were in front of everybody unless they left the group.
"We got all six of their names," he said and claimed one of them was a new church member.
Hmmmm\u2026 witches\u2026wife\u2019s Bible study are 2 of em\u2026sage burning\u2026let me guess\u2026I bet they do \u2026yoga?— Kingeswife (@Kingeswife) 1644896916
He left the accused with the following ultimatum.
"You got a choice. You can leave with your spells, all by yourself, or I’ll show up next Sunday with a stage full of brooms, and I’ll give you one and I’ll fly your tail up out of this place in the name of Jesus."
"But we ain’t playing your spell castin’, witchcraft nonsense sage-burning games.”
He's definitely threatening female parishioners to keep them silent... most likely because abuse or something that could mar his reputation or position of power.— Emma (@Emma) 1644878476
His remarks came after he held a book-burning ceremony outside the church in the Nashville suburb of Mount Juliet in Tennessee.
More about Greg Locke:\n\n\u201c\u2026Last night, Mt. Juliet pastor and pro-Trump conspiracy theorist\u00a0Greg Locke decided to turn it up a notch by organizing an old-fashioned book burning. The books included millennial staples like\u00a0Harry Potter and\u00a0Twilight\u2026\u201dhttps://www.nashvillescene.com/news/pithinthewind/theyre-burning-books-in-tennessee/article_1f8c631e-850f-11ec-bc9f-dbd44d7e14d7.html\u00a0\u2026— Paul Morrison (@Paul Morrison) 1644908217
"Bring all your Harry Potter stuff. Laugh all you will haters. I don't care. It's witchcraft 100 percent," he wrote in a Facebook post announcing the bonfire event.
"All your Twilight books and movies. That mess is full of spells, demonism, shape-shifting and occultism. Bring tarot cards, Ouija boards, healing crystals, idol statues, spell books and everything else tied to the occult. It's got to go."
"If you think we're crazy, then scroll on. We're exposing the Kingdom of Darkness for what it is. It's time for people to be delivered."
After his book burning last week I made a comment that we will be back to burning witches before long. People thought I was joking.— Mr Carpenter (@Mr Carpenter) 1644797121
He had also encouraged congregants to bring books about Disney–which conservative Christians denounced for the company's known support for LGBTQ+ rights and equality.
