A Christian Mob Invaded an Appalachian Artists Retreat because of Om symbol in the Chapel

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On the weekend of August 18th, the Waymakers Collective, an Appalachian Arts and Culture Assembly, rented the facilities and grounds of Pine Mountain Settlement School for their annual retreat. While this group was engaged in their meeting, several images were posted on the Waymakers’ social media, depicting their classes and events. The images, particularly those showing a healing space set up in the chapel, upset some members of the local community, who interpreted this as non-Christian. They reached out to the School’s Interim Director and, later, the Chair of the Board of Trustees.

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To address these concerns and avoid misunderstanding, the Interim Director and Chair of the Board asked the Waymakers Collective to relocate their healing space to another building. The Collective agreed they would relocate the space at their next class break. However, some community members decided on their own to come to campus, entering the chapel, and blocking access to buildings and roads. The Waymakers Collective felt threatened and called law enforcement.

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Happened last weekend in my home county, big dust up, articles/posts all over FB. Long story short, freaks came into Harlan County to have a freak retreat and got ran off because they desecrated the house of the Lord. Libs big mad.

I had to cut the article in half.

[quote]A Christian mob invaded an Appalachian artists' retreat because of an "Om" symbol in the chapel
The artists, many of whom were people of color and LGBTQ, left the premises to avoid violence.

Over the weekend, a retreat for Appalachian artists in Bledsoe, Kentucky had to be cut short after a conservative Christian mob invaded the rental space falsely claiming that the participants were desecrating a local chapel.

The event was run by Waymakers Collective, a non-profit group that provides grant money and learning opportunities for artists in the region. They say they’ve given away over $1 million to date and this past weekend was supposed to mark their second annual gathering.

The three-day event took place at Pine Mountain Settlement School (PMSS), an 800-acre campus with dozens of buildings. The school’s website says “We have hosted everything from church retreats to theater conferences to recording sessions.” Given that many of the Waymakers’ members had attended events there in the past and “always felt welcome, safe and had positive experiences,” it seemed like a perfect place for the occasion. The schedule included performances, meals, lectures, and free time for the artists to explore their creativity among like-minded peers.

Importantly, participants also had an option to visit the chapel on campus as a “Healing Space.” Waymakers explained it this way:

The healing space was something we instituted last year when our gathering occurred right after the flood in Eastern Kentucky and we knew many of our participants traveling from Eastern Kentucky were coming off of weeks of relief work and being impacted by the floods themselves. We chose to continue that offering this year… It was a spa-like environment to help facilitate restorativeness, rest, and reflection that we invited people to use how they wanted to: take a nap, sit in quiet meditation, or prayerful reflection within their own religious and spiritual traditions.

Organizers said the chapel was decorated with pillows, “soothing lights,” plants, and a painting that included an “Om” symbol—presumably to facilitate the meditation.

That’s what this controversy is all about.

While the “Om” wasn’t meant to be religious in nature, when some people in the community saw pictures of the painting, they flipped out over the idea that a non-Christian symbol made its way into a supposedly Christian space (even though PMSS isn’t a religious location).

Waymakers organizers said they were told they had use of the entire campus as part of their rental agreement, and the only restriction regarding the chapel involved the pews—they were told not to move them because the floors were recently resurfaced. In other words, there was no reason the painting should have been a concern for anyone.

On Saturday, however, an estimated 8-9 community members took matters into their own hands, barged into the space, and entered the chapel “to make sure the House of The Lord wasn’t being disrespected.”

Tate Napier, the mob member whose posted about the situation on Facebook, told reporter Jennifer McDaniels of the Tri-City News:

The people in the chapel said they were doing nothing wrong, and I asked if they were in there to worship Jesus, and a few started raising their voices at me, so I told them to just get their stuff - that we weren’t there to argue, and I even helped them gather their things and pack them to their cars. After that all happened, the state police and sheriff deputies showed up, and they agreed to stay out of the chapel, but then, ultimately, they decided to leave because they said they felt unsafe.

If they want to do that stuff, they can do it in their own homes or buildings or wherever else, but it’s not happening in Jesus’ house as long as I’m around to defend it…

Napier, a Christian who was charged with first-degree sexual abuse after being caught in bed with a 15-year-old girl, had no business telling anyone to “get their stuff.” He makes it sound like he was merely escorting out people who shouldn’t have been there when, in fact, he’s the one who didn’t have access to the space. Neither did his colleagues. (Two deputies were indeed stationed outside the chapel afterwards, but unlike what his post said, they weren’t necessarily there to keep people from entering.)

One of the artists in attendance didn’t see the mob’s actions as helpful in any way. Referring to them as “yt supremacists,” Kabrea James said the invaders alleged the artists were “desecrating their space” and “demanded that we leave.” The artists left in order to avoid escalating the situation—which was understandable given that a lot of them come from marginalized communities.

Shortly after the conflict began, a PMSS staffer showed up and played mediator (which the Waymakers said they appreciated). Eventually, police were called in by both PMSS and some of the artists who felt like they were in danger. According to Waymakers, “We were also then told that the Executive Director and Board of the PMSS had ordered our group to not return to the chapel during our stay.” (How does that make any sense?!)

In a statement released by Waymakers on Monday, they expressed concern about why their safety wasn’t paramount in this situation and why their contract wasn’t honored

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So the Board who runs the Settlement reached out to the group and they moved their stuff out of the Chapel without issue. A bunch of idiots from the community decided to harass the people there despite them peacefully moving their things when request.

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...seeing as how it was a private non-christian organization, you unfortunately put me on the side of the hippies

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