A group of Christian missionaries has claimed they were made to leave Burning Man festival in the middle of the night, alleging they were discriminated against for spreading their religion.
John Hinerman and his Christian group, who set up a camp named Shift the Atmosphere, explained in a series of Instagram videos that they attended the Nevada desert festival to “spread the word of Jesus” but were asked to leave by organizers.
“Burning Man is discriminating us and breaking their own rules of being ‘radically inclusive’ and KICKING us out for being Christians?!” Hinerman said in his post’s caption.
While at Burning Man, Hinerman had shared videos of him and his group setting up a camp where they played “Christian EDM” music and served coffee to others while trying to spread their message. They also claimed to have performed more than 600 baptisms during the festival.
He said in the video: “We have been asked to leave Burning Man. We’re packing up. They’re kicking us out. Satan’s mad. We have over 600 people who have given their lives to Jesus already, and Satan can’t do anything about it.”
The festival has said they removed the group for filming others without their consent, but Hinerman disputed the claims.
Burning Man spokesperson Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley told SF Gate in a statement: “Burning Man takes participants’ right to privacy seriously.
“Seeking permission and consent before filming or engaging other participants in Black Rock City is a requirement and responsibility for anyone at the event,” the statement said. “This camp received multiple warnings and opportunities to correct their behavior, yet continued to violate our policies and were therefore evicted.”
The Independent has contacted Burning Man for additional comment.
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Burning Man’s website states that all people should ask for permission before filming other attendees.
In another video, Hinerman said they had three hours to pack up their camp and leave, and that other attendees had helped them clear up.
“WE LOVE the BURNERS. We had such beautiful time spending with the people here. Burning Man is WRONG for kicking us Out and the devil is MAD over 800 people gave their lives to Jesus and became a LIVING temple of the Holy Spirit. One of their #1 Rules, is “Radical Inclusion”. I guess it’s Radical inclusion for everyone EXCEPT Christians,” he concluded.
Hinerman also criticized the free-spirited nature of the festival, stating that festival-goers would walk around naked “without the consent” of the people around them, including children.
“These children didn’t give you consent to be walking around with your penises out in front of all these kids. It’s so wicked and sad,” he said.
Burning Man, running from August 30 to September 7, is a cultural event where attendees build camps from scratch and set up their own installations and other forms of entertainment. It was founded on 10 core principles, which include “radical inclusion,” “radical self-expression” and “demodification.”
This year’s edition of the festival has been subject to criticism after the co-founder John Law — one of the early organizers who helped move the event to Nevada’s Black Rock Desert in 1990 — accused Burning Man of losing its “anarchist soul” and becoming a playground for the rich.
In an essay for the San Francisco Standard published on Saturday, Law said Burning Man started as “an anarchistic collaboration of equals, conjured into being by a few hundred people of goodwill” but had become a “fabulous Disneyland for the well-heeled.”