Foul homophobes lap up church being burned to ashes by lightning strike
A Massachusetts church engulfed by fire was not holding a same-sex wedding at the time, despite speculation on social media.
Twitter has been flooded with claims that the First Congregational Church in the town of Spencer, about 50 miles east of Boston, burned down during a “homosexual wedding ceremony”.
Some gleefully claimed there were no survivors, suggesting the blaze was God’s vengeance for supposed LGBTQ+ sin.
However, the church was even open at the time, according to AP news.
About 100 firefighters, from 18 departments, tackled the blaze on 2 June, which broke out at about 2.30pm.
Church burnt
down in Boston Massachusetts by lightning
during a homosexual wedding ceremony. No participant survived….. God may be silent but when He decides to strike no casualty is left.. LGBTQ is not a human right it’s a disarray #UgandaNGOexhibition #earthquake pic.twitter.com/fouFM5Ma6J
— Prospect (@Sijenyijnr) June 14, 2023
Multiple alarm fire Spencer ma @ctfirephoto @telegramdotcom @MAFireDistrict7 @SpencerFire1 @FirehouseNews @fireengineering @mikesacconetv #breakingnews #mafire #churchfire pic.twitter.com/JJCflXGumW
— Paul (@pauls612) June 3, 2023
The cause of the fire was determined by investigators as a lightning strike, Jake Wark, a spokesman for the state department of fire services, confirmed in an e-mail seen by The Boston Globe.
The church is pro-LGBTQ+ and has openly supported Pride month, perhaps fuelling the false reports.
It appears the homophobic conspiracy was spread via WhatsApp before being shared across Twitter.
This happened in Boston,USA. Church burnt down by lightening during a marriage ceremony of a homosexual couple. No survival from the participants. God is still in control
. God never fails. May they all BURN!
pic.twitter.com/gWr5sJFnuv
— N.K
(@noreenkaraba) June 12, 2023
The church burnt by lightning From Heaven in Boston USA, During marriage ceremony of Homosexual couples.
That tell us that there is no survival from the participants. And we need to return to Jesus By repenting and be holy. #RepentLebanon
GOD is still judging sin. pic.twitter.com/HSEoVpneyN
— Isabella chesoi (@ChesoiIsabella) June 10, 2023
How True is this People in Boston? Got it on WhatsApp.
*Church burnt down by a lightening, in Boston, In the USA, during a marriage ceremony of homosexual couple. No survival from the participants. God still in control over Satan’s counterfeits and attacks to God’s instructions.* pic.twitter.com/2CmLbO6JpD
— @FlorenceMugendi (@FlorenceMugendi) June 11, 2023
Spencer’s church moderator, Harold Carlson, told the Globe he was devastated by the loss of the 160-year-old building. He hopes to open a basketball court for local children once the site is cleared, in a bid to continue giving back to the community.
“It’s a community staple. I like to see the kids have a place to come back to,” he said.
“Even though the church isn’t here, we want the community to know that we’re still looking out for them.”
The natural disaster hit following the Human Rights Campaign having declared a national “state of emergency” for LGBTQ+ people in the US for the first time in its history.