A pastor in the US state of Kentucky has publicly responded after a video of adults acting out a shooting scenario in a church during a kids Bible school session was posted to social media 28 June went viral and prompted online backlash.
The video depicts a portion of the camp at Mt. Olivet Baptist Church in Lexington where actors in military gear pretending to shoot a man playing a "devil" character at point blank range as children watching the skit can be heard chanting "take him out, blow him up."
In a video response posted to social media 29 June, pastor Dewayne Walker said the play was meant to be a "fun" way to get messaging across and he was "befuddled" at public reaction to the clip.
"The misinformation out there is sad, and I guess it's a part of what this generation has become," he said.
Walker said the clip was a small part of the church's program, which includes characters that represent "good and right and God" as well as characters that represent "good and evil and wrong."
The clip that has been shared online, he said, was “simply killing the devil.” Though people may not like how the church represented it or the use of air rifles, it depicted “a real picture to kids visibly what’s going on invisibly,” Walker said.
He also pushed back on rhetoric that the video shows killing people who don’t hold the same values as the church.
“All I can say is what? Where did that come from? It’s a character called the devil,” Walker said. “And if it’s been misunderstood, and if the devil uses it to hurt somebody, I am so sad about that. That has not been the intention ever.”
Walker added the snippet does not represent the overall views of the church.
“I’d ask you to maybe be just and not try us and convict us without at least hearing what this thing’s about,” he said. “If you ever hear the Mt. Olivet Baptist Church has a Vacation Bible School that’s for killing people, you heard it wrong or something’s badly wrong.”
In a statement, Moms Demand Action Kentucky volunteer Kathi Crowe, who lives in Lexington, said she found the video "unbelievably disturbing."
"Vacation Bible School and our churches should be safe spaces for children. Subjecting kids to a full-scale simulated tactical raid and firing squad is just an appalling abuse of that space, and a major breach of trust that can’t go unaddressed," she said. "Any lesson for children about good and evil has to start with adults modeling safety and grace. Our leaders must do more to protect our kids and educate the community on the steps they can take to prevent this kind of violence from actually happening.”