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A far-right evangelical Christian pastor has left people outraged after claiming that children with autism are possessed by demons.
Tennessee pastor Greg Locke made the claim in a sermon in which he compared autism to stories of people healed by Jesus Christ of "fits" and "outbursts" in the Bible due to demonic possession.
He went on to warn parents that "no such diagnosis" as autism exists in the Bible. See his comments below. Be forewarned that his words may be disturbing.
Christian hate-preacher Greg Locke said this morning that children with autism actually suffer from demon possession. \n\n"Your kid could be demonized and attacked, but your doctor calls it autism."\n\nHe added: "Ain't no such diagnosis in the Bible."pic.twitter.com/Q44WmGKCd7— Hemant Mehta (@Hemant Mehta) 1642965916
Locke began his comments by imploring his congregation to not "jump up right now and rebuke me for what I’m about to say,” a sure sign that he shouldn't have said it. Unfortunately, he forged ahead anyway.
"On three occasions, kids were brought to Jesus... by their parents that had epileptic fits, anger issues, outbursts of emotion… And because we called it ‘possession,’ parents refused to deal with it."
Locke then clarified his meaning, which only made things worse.
"'Are you telling me my kid’s possessed?' No — I’m telling your kid has been demonized and attacked, but your doctor calls it autism."
First of all, doctors call autism "autism" because it's autism, not demonic possession. Autism spectrum disorders can also be detected in children as young as 18 months, and Locke's assertion that a baby could be possessed by Satan is not only absurd and anti-scientific but also abhorrent.
Unsurprisingly, Locke also seemed totally ignorant of the fact that autism spectrum disorders frequently do not even include anger issues or outbursts of emotion among their symptoms and manifestations.
Nor did he seem to know that "epileptic fits," more commonly called "seizures" by people with even a basic sense of decency, are symptoms of epilepsy, which is an entirely different condition from autism.
Nor did it seem to occur to him that the reason epilepsy was called demonic possession in the Bible is because they didn't know that epilepsy existed.
Locke went on to once again essentially admit that he knew what he was saying was abhorrent, telling his congregants he didn't care if they were offended.
"I don’t care if you stand or not, I don’t care if you leave or not. I tell you, there’s deliverance in the name of Jesus Christ for your children, and their children’s children!”
On Twitter, Locke's cartoonishly vile and ignorant comments left people outraged--including several people dealing with autism spectrum disorders themselves.
As a person with Autism, this causes quite a bit of trauma and self-hate— \ud835\udc00\ud835\udc8c\ud835\udc82\ud835\udc94\ud835\udc89 \ud835\udc03\ud835\udc86 \ud835\udc05\ud835\udc90\ud835\udc8f\ud835\udc94\ud835\udc86\ud835\udc8c\ud835\udc82 (@\ud835\udc00\ud835\udc8c\ud835\udc82\ud835\udc94\ud835\udc89 \ud835\udc03\ud835\udc86 \ud835\udc05\ud835\udc90\ud835\udc8f\ud835\udc94\ud835\udc86\ud835\udc8c\ud835\udc82) 1642969691
I'll take "why I left the church" for 400 alex. I actually had to go through an "exorcism" where they tied me down screamed Bible verses at me and dunked my head in a bucket of water [my main trigger btw] because I got caught playing D&D and MtG and I was "weird" (see: autistic)— Klunkyman (@Klunkyman) 1643041536
I mean there's no such diagnosis of like... any disease or disorder in the bible...\n\nDoes Greg think EVERYTHING is demon possession?— Watchmiker (@Watchmiker) 1642970362
But there is a diagnosis in the Bible for a false teacher.https://twitter.com/NappNazworth/status/1452691863564128260\u00a0\u2026— Napp Nazworth (@Napp Nazworth) 1643041444
Also not included in the Bible:\n\n- The fact that the Earth isn't flat\n- Any facts at all, for that matter\n- Halfway decent storytelling— Logan Ogden (@Logan Ogden) 1642967849
Also ain't no such diagnoses as "common cold", "lung cancer", or "age-related macular degeneration" in the bible. Does he also doubt that people get the sniffles? Think smoking is safe? Believe that blindness is only caused by divine smite?— CoffeeWithCreamAndSarcasm (@CoffeeWithCreamAndSarcasm) 1642970441
My son is not demon possessed, no matter what this charlatan says.https://twitter.com/hemantmehta/status/1485332826799149059\u00a0\u2026— John Scotus (@John Scotus) 1642987495
Children born with any number of physical, emotional, and learning disabilities have value, dignity, and worth based on their being created in God's image. This is antithetical to the Gospel. Greg Locke is a false teacher. Stay away.https://twitter.com/hemantmehta/status/1485332826799149059\u00a0\u2026— Adam Wyatt. #sbc #patriotism #theology #politics (@Adam Wyatt. #sbc #patriotism #theology #politics) 1643048648
As an undiagnosed autistic kid, I attended a Pentecostal church where they decided that my extreme discomfort with them had to be a symptom of demon possession.\n\nThey swarmed over me.https://twitter.com/hemantmehta/status/1485332826799149059\u00a0\u2026— Steve Asbell (@Steve Asbell) 1643068006
TW Hatred, eugenics, evil\n\nThe only thing demonic and evil that faces #Autistic people is the evil and contempt shown towards us in the name of not faith in God, but a hateful doctrine of supremacy, manipulation and greed that any person of true faith is against #ActuallyAutistichttps://twitter.com/hemantmehta/status/1485332826799149059\u00a0\u2026— Existential \u00c2\u00dbtist \uea00 \u221e \ud83e\udde0 \ud83c\udf99 #StopTheShock #BanABA (@Existential \u00c2\u00dbtist \uea00 \u221e \ud83e\udde0 \ud83c\udf99 #StopTheShock #BanABA) 1643050056
Locke, a Trump supporter permanently banned from Twitter for spreading COVID-19 conspiracy theories, seems to have a bit of an obsession with Satanism, having claimed in 2020 that the Democratic Party's logo contains a Satanic pentagram. (It does not, for the record.)