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

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Church in Forest City,

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. 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, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

'' 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 news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

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

Guantanamo Bay detainment camp The Guantanamo Bay detention camp, also known as GTMO ( ), GITMO ( ), or simply Guantanamo Bay, is a United States military prison within Naval Station Guantanamo Bay (NSGB), on the coast of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. It was established in 2002 by p ...

(see Qur'an desecration controversy of 2005). 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 Islamic world and Muslim 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, politics, and laws of Islam or to societies in which Islam is p ...

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

Jalalabad Jalalabad (; Help:IPA/Persian, ͡ʒä.lɑː.lɑː.bɑːd̪ is the list of cities in Afghanistan, fifth-largest city of Afghanistan. It has a population of about 200,331, and serves as the capital of Nangarhar Province in the eastern part ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

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 not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

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

MSNBC MSNBC is an American cable news channel owned by the NBCUniversal News Group division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. Launched on July 15, 1996, and headquartered at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, the channel primarily broadcasts r ...

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 Christian theology is the theology – the systematic study of the divine and religion – of Christianity, Christian belief and practice. It concentrates primarily upon the texts of the Old Testament and of the New Testament, as well as on Ch ...

Muslims cannot enter

heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

. 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'' "eva ...

'' 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), alternatively the Great Commission Baptists (GCB), is a Christian denomination based in the United States. It is the world's largest Baptist organization, the largest Protestant, and the second-largest Chr ...

, 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