Burning Man is underway in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert, where the 10-day gathering is built around themes of community, expression and “radical inclusion.” But one Christian group says its experience at the festival has been anything but welcoming.
John Hinerman, who leads the Christian outreach group Shift the Atmosphere, said in an Instagram video posted Wednesday that he and his team were told to leave the event after arriving to share their faith and preach about Jesus.
“Burning Man is discriminating us and breaking their own rules of being ‘radically inclusive’ and KICKING us out for being Christians?!” Hinerman wrote in the caption accompanying the post.
In the video, Hinerman said the group had begun breaking down its camp after being ordered out. “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,” he said.
Hinerman also suggested that the situation could be the start of something bigger spiritually, saying he had “a feeling God is about to move and do something huge.” He claimed organizers gave the group just three hours to dismantle a camp that had taken a full week to build.
According to Hinerman, festival officials said the group was removed because members had filmed people without consent. He denied the allegation, calling the explanation “lies” that he said were created by Burning Man.
Hinerman also criticized what he described as public nudity at the event, particularly in the presence of children. “What’s crazy to me is there’s young kids – which is wicked and sad that parents would bring their kids to these – but grown men will have their penises out and women are walking around naked without consent,” he said.
“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,” Hinerman added.
He concluded that post by stating, “Burning Man knows they’re wrong. God will have the last say.”
Burning Man spokesperson Dominique Debucquoy-Dodley responded to Hinerman’s claims (via SF Gate), stating, “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. This camp received multiple warnings and opportunities to correct their behavior, yet continued to violate our policies and were therefore evicted,” he added.
The complaints stemmed from Hinerman’s group filming people while encouraging them to “take a blessing,” which violated Burning Man’s rules.
Hinerman shared another video on Instagram Wednesday, showing some encounters with friendly “burners” who helped them clean up their camp when they were asked to leave.
“Many other BURNERS are coming and JOINING us helping us clean up everything up because even THEY are against the Burning Man for kicking us out for sharing our Faith…” the post began.
“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 and Shift the Atmosphere appear to be moving on from the ordeal, with his latest post on Thursday revealing that they were continuing on their “mission to save souls” to Reno, Nevada.
