Creighton Lovelace

Who is Creighton Lovelace?

Creighton Lee Lovelace is Pastor of Danieltown Baptist Church in Forest City, North Carolina. Lovelace and his church received brief international attention in May 2005 over a controversial sign on church grounds that stated, "The Koran needs to be flushed!"

This appeared in The Daily Courier, the local newspaper covering Forest City, in a story written by Josh Humphries shortly after a May 1, 2005, report in Newsweek that United States officials had flushed a Koran down a toilet at Guantanamo Bay. That statement proved to be false and Newsweek apologized on May 15. Apparently a Koran had been desecrated in some way, but not involving a toilet. The original report received widespread international attention and sparked protests in Muslim countries. 15 people in Afghanistan died in a protest riot over the story.

Lovelace and his church posted the sign as the Newsweek controversy unfolded. This inflammatory message received attention from the Associated Press, all major United States news networks, and various international publications. In a May 25 MSNBC interview, Lovelace denied that his congregation desecrated any actual Korans. Unapologetic for the sign, he said the message was "a figure of speech." In conservative Christian theology Muslims cannot enter heaven.