Acting directly against the popular Christian teaching about love for neighbors, a California church elder interrupted a charity bake sale for victims of ICE raids rather violently. In a viral clip posted on Instagram, one of the church members was seen addressing the volunteers, explaining that it was church property, when the elder escalated the exchange by storming toward the person recording, shouting, “You wanna videotape me ?” before grabbing the phone out of their hands. In the caption, the man was identified as Elder Chris Wright of The Granada Hills Community Church.
It explained that before they started recording the video, the elder, unprovoked, approached a volunteer in a threatening manner and encroached on her space so much that another man who had come with him from the church had to pull him back. The text overlay at the beginning of the clip explained that the group decided to host the bake sale at that spot because it was where ICE agents allegedly kidnapped someone.
Moral Outrage And Criticism Erupt In The Comments
The clip sparked widespread outrage across online communities, provoking intense backlash, as many netizens questioned how a religious leader could oppose a charitable initiative that was aimed directly at helping fellow human beings.
“He really believes God is on his side,” a frustrated user slammed. Many critics viewed the elder’s conduct as a severe betrayal of core Christian principles, highlighting perceived hypocrisy in opposing a benevolent cause. A sarcastic user wrote, “Praise be, and heaven love him; he was just trying to spread the good news of love thy neighbor.” A local confessed that this sort of action seemed to be the norm with members of the church writing, “Yeah. I used to live a few hundred feet from that place. Not the friendliest “church people”… ever… even my small kids asked if they’re evil.”
Involving broader issues, a commenter suggested that since the elder was being so political, perhaps their church should also lose its tax-exempt status. Another sarcastically claimed that these kinds of actions were specific to the Christians reading the right-wing bible. One user bluntly called out the elder, writing:
“Shame on this elder from Granada Hills Community Church and anyone else from this church who has a problem with holding a charity event…this church is obviously not following the teachings of Jesus…it’s shameful and disturbing to see this hateful aggressive behavior from church members….”
Some individuals advocated for a formal legal action to address the incident, describing it as an action that was anti-free speech, religiously based harassment, and inherently racist.
Ultimately, the internet made it absolutely clear that it would not stand for any form of bullying, regardless of where it came from.
