A Christian missionary group says it was removed from the Burning Man festival in Nevada after sharing the Gospel with attendees and reporting that hundreds of people had turned to Jesus during the gathering.
The group, Shift the Atmosphere, traveled to the annual festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert with the stated purpose of evangelizing. According to The New York Post, group leader John Hinerman announced Wednesday that organizers had ordered the missionaries to leave the festival.
“We have been asked to leave Burning Man. We’re packing up. They’re kicking us out,” Hinerman said in a video posted to Instagram. “Satan’s mad. We have over 600 people who have given their lives to Jesus already, and Satan can’t do anything about it.”
Hinerman characterized the decision as discrimination against Christians, pointing to Burning Man’s stated principle of “radical inclusion.”
“Burning Man is discriminating us and breaking their own rules of being ‘radically inclusive’ and KICKING us out for being Christians?!” he wrote.
Festival organizers, however, disputed the group’s explanation for its removal.
According to the New York Post, a Burning Man spokesperson said the missionaries were evicted because they repeatedly violated policies concerning the privacy and consent of other participants. The group had reportedly been filming attendees while encouraging them to “take a blessing.”
“Burning Man takes participants’ right to privacy seriously,” spokesperson Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley said, according to the report.
“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 spokesperson continued. “This camp received multiple warnings and opportunities to correct their behavior, yet continued to violate our policies and were therefore evicted.”
Hinerman rejected that explanation, calling the allegations that his group filmed people without consent “lies” made up by the festival.
The missionary also criticized the presence of public nudity at the gathering, particularly where children were present.
“These children didn’t give you consent to be walking around with your penises out in front of all these kids,” Hinerman said. “It’s so wicked and sad.”
Despite the dispute, the missionaries said they also experienced support from some Burning Man participants. Hinerman later posted video showing other festivalgoers helping the group dismantle and clean up its camp after the eviction order.
By a later post, Hinerman claimed the number of people who had accepted Jesus during the group’s time at Burning Man had risen to more than 800.
“WE LOVE the BURNERS,” he wrote, adding, “I guess it’s Radical inclusion for everyone EXCEPT Christians.”
The group did not appear to be ending its evangelization efforts after leaving the festival. According to the New York Post, Hinerman said Thursday that the missionaries were continuing their “mission to save souls” in Reno, Nevada.
The dispute presents sharply different accounts of why the missionaries were removed: the Christian group says its public witness made it unwelcome, while Burning Man maintains that the eviction resulted from repeated violations of its consent and filming policies.
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