__NOTOC__ Creighton Lee Lovelace (born December 15, 1981) is an American Christian minister, currently the pastor of Danieltown

Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christianity, Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe ...

Church in Forest City,

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia a ...

. Lovelace and his church received brief international attention in May 2005 over a controversial sign on the Danieltown church's grounds that read, "The ''

Koran The Quran (, ; Standard Arabic: , Quranic Arabic: , , 'the recitation'), also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God. It is organized in 114 chapters (pl.: , sin ...

'' needs to be flushed!" This appeared in ''The Daily Courier'', the local newspaper covering Forest City, in a story written by Josh Humphries shortly after a May 1, 2005, report in ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly online news magazine co-owned 50 percent each by Dev Pragad, its president and CEO, and Johnathan Davis, who has no operational role at ''Newsweek''. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely ...

'' that US officials had flushed a ''Koran'' down a toilet at

Guantanamo Bay detainment camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp ( es, Centro de detención de la bahía de Guantánamo) is a United States military prison located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, also referred to as Guantánamo, GTMO, and Gitmo (), on the coast of Guant ...

(see

Qur'an desecration controversy of 2005 The 2005 Quran desecration controversy began when ''Newsweek'' April 30, 2005, issue contained a report asserting that United States prison guards or interrogators had deliberately damaged a copy of the Quran. A week later, ''The New Yorker'' repor ...

). That statement proved to be false and ''Newsweek'' retracted the story, and apologized on May 15. Apparently a ''Koran'' had been desecrated in some way, but not involving a toilet. The original report received widespread international attention and sparked protests in

Muslim countries The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religious beliefs and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is practiced. In ...

. At least fifteen people in died in a protest riot in

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Dari/ ps, جلال‌آباد, ) is the fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 356,274, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part of the country, about from the capital Kabul. Jal ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bord ...

over the story. Lovelace and his church posted the sign as the ''Newsweek'' controversy unfolded. This inflammatory message received attention from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

, all major United States news networks, and various international publications. In a May 25

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politic ...

interview, Lovelace denied that his congregation desecrated any actual ''Korans''. Unapologetic for the sign, he said the message was "a figure of speech." In conservative Christian theology Muslims cannot enter

heaven Heaven or the heavens, is a common religious cosmological or transcendent supernatural place where beings such as deities, angels, souls, saints, or venerated ancestors are said to originate, be enthroned, or reside. According to the bel ...

. In a ''

Christianity Today ''Christianity Today'' is an evangelical Christian media magazine founded in 1956 by Billy Graham. It is published by Christianity Today International based in Carol Stream, Illinois. ''The Washington Post'' calls ''Christianity Today'' "evan ...

'' article about the Danieltown Baptist Church sign, Anthony McRoy wrote: No specific attacks on Christians or United States citizens have been linked to this incident. Following two days of intense and universally negative press coverage, Lovelace issued an apology. On June 8, 2005, the ''Associated Baptist Press'' reported that Danieltown Baptist Church had withdrawn from the

Southern Baptist Convention The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination, and the largest Protestant and second-largest Christian denomination in the United States. The wo ...

, the Baptist State Convention of North Carolina and the local Sandy Run Baptist Association.

References

External links

Danieltown Baptist ChurchThe Digital Courier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lovelace, Creighton 1981 births Living people People from Shelby, North Carolina Baptist ministers from the United States North Carolina Constitutionalists North Carolina Republicans People from Forest City, North Carolina Christian critics of Islam Baptists from North Carolina American critics of Islam Members of Sons of Confederate Veterans

See also

References

External links