The Baptist church the place the Atlanta capturing suspect, Robert Aaron Long, was an energetic member posted a prolonged assertion on its web site Friday morning that referred to as this week’s assaults on three spas “the result of a sinful heart and depraved mind.”
“We want to be clear that this extreme and wicked act is nothing less than rebellion against our Holy God and His Word,” the statement from Crabapple First Baptist Church, in Milton, Ga., mentioned. “The shootings were a total repudiation of our faith and practice, and such actions are completely unacceptable and contrary to the gospel.”
The police mentioned that Mr. Long, 21, advised them that he has a sexual habit, and that the shootings had been an try and get rid of temptation.
Crabapple First Baptist strictly prohibits intercourse exterior of marriage. Mr. Long had beforehand checked himself right into a Christian rehab clinic in an effort to fight what he perceived as an habit.
The Atlanta police mentioned on Thursday that Mr. Long had been a buyer at two of the spas that had been focused within the assaults, however didn’t specify whether or not he had sought something greater than a therapeutic massage.
The church’s assertion positioned the blame totally on Mr. Long. “The women that he solicited for sexual acts are not responsible for his perverse sexual desires nor do they bear any blame in these murders,” the church mentioned. “These actions are the result of a sinful heart and depraved mind for which Aaron is completely responsible.”
The church mentioned it was cooperating with regulation enforcement and that it deeply regretted “the fear and pain Asian-Americans are experiencing as a result of Aaron’s inexcusable actions.”
Mr. Long and his household have been energetic members of the conservative evangelical church for a few years. Mr. Long was baptized there as an grownup in 2018, in response to a now-deleted Facebook publish from the church. The assertion on Friday mentioned the church had begun the method of “church discipline” to take away Mr. Long from its membership.
