When I was a kid I split my time between parents. Most of the time I was here in East Tennessee for school, and in the Summer I’d spend break in Florida with my Dad. Most of you will know the “Florida Man” trope by now. It’s when the news article says something like “Florida man threw live gator in Wendy’s drive-thru window, police say” But lately, here in the Volunteer State we have had a few black eyes in the news. It started out recently with the school board’s decision to ban “Maus” by Art Spiegel, then in a totally “Hold my beer” moment, We were introduced to Greg Locke.

Here is a fun segment (Not the doxing witches video, it’s easy to web search) It’s a lot to unpack.

“We’re having a bonfire” “Some people are already burning their stuff” and most importantly:

WitchTok of course is on a tear. “This is how it starts!” “It’s the burning times!” Relax, it’s not. When I grew up in the church, I saw a lot of weird stuff. Preachers that would turn so red from the lack of oxygen that I just knew they were going to die on the pulpit. High mountain churches in an age where they still brought out the rattlesnakes and the strychnine. I also worked in a small-town radio station where I was introduced to the Greg Lockes of the world. They would come in every Sunday and preach in a tiny studio for thirty minutes or an hour. It was always the same fire and brimstone preaching that I was accustomed to, but there was something different…in their fine suits and expensive cars…living on the donations they were sent. Promising something more and instilling fear among their flock.

I stopped working Sundays…while it was a great time to sit and read while I watched the levels, one day a particular person came to pay for their time and started to testify to me….advising that if I didn’t turn over my life to the Lord I’d burn in a lake of fire. Most worryingly, he said that if he didn’t tell me about Jesus my blood “would be on his hands”.

I politely informed him my relationship with God was my business alone and that he was absolved in his mission. The next week I removed myself from dealing with these individuals ever again.

Back to Greg Locke and his “witches among us” spiel. It actually reminds me of a popular story going around (and an episode of Sabrina)

Living in the Bible Belt as a pagan/witch there have been more scary times than the ramblings of the Greg Locke’s of the world. Namely that I was just a few years older than the West Memphis 3. I recall a *teacher* in my High School asking me point blank if I was one of the “Devil’s Disciples” because I had long hair, wore black Heavy Metal shirts, and wore a pentagram. These are the things that happen here in Tennessee. It was a long time before I actually fully came out of the broom closet because of the dangers that lurked with the hearts and minds of those that held dangerous ideas like Exodus 22: 18’s ““Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live”. (Which we could do a whole blog post on, but here is food for thought).

But times are changing gang. People will make a spotlight for Locke just like they did for the Westboro Baptist Church…and just like Rev. Fred, in the end….it’ll be much ado about nothing.

Just watch out for Tennessee Man.