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Rick Morrow, a pastor from Beulah Church in Missouri’s Richland, recently came under fire after passing disturbing remarks about autism being demonic during a sermon on Wednesday, September 6, 2023. Since the sermon was live-streamed, the clip where the pastor spoke about autism quickly went viral, spurring a massive outrage in the Richland community as well as across the country.
Pastor Rick depicted autism as a physical infirmity caused by the devil, adding that it needs some “fixing” which can only be done by prayers. He further claimed that he’s acquainted with a minister who has worked with many autistic children. Rick continued that the minister only had to pray to cast that demon out from those children and they were healed and “fixed” as their brains were “rewired.”
He even said that one can find many examples of it online. Rick Morrow, who is also an elected member of the Stoutland School Board, then proposed an alternative theory to his initial statement and said:
“God just doesn’t like them very much, and he made them that way. Well my God doesn’t make junk. God doesn’t make mess-ups. God doesn’t make people that way. So, let’s quit being nice and putting a band-aid on stuff and giving it medicine.”
Pastor Rick Morrow's autism remarks spark severe uproar among parents of autistic children and others
The pastor’s notion about autism infuriated many parents who don’t deem autism as an illness that needs supernatural intervention. Several non-Christians were also outraged by Rick Morrow's deeply offensive words and noted that such preachings were the reasons why so many people were rejecting Christianity.
Rick Morrow defended his remarks and said that he was misunderstood by people
After the video went viral, Pastor Rick Morrow addressed the issue the following week and reaffirmed his views while clarifying that his words were misperceived. Defending his comments about autism, he said:
“What was intended was autism is junk. People that have it are loved by God and loved by me. Now, I've tried… I’ve tried to reach out to some of the mob mentality that's attacking Beulah right now. I can't get anywhere. I have been told that autism is a blessing from God. I have been told that I'm the evil one. But you know what? If I was to stand up here and say cancer is junk, people would agree. If I were to stand up here and say addiction is junk, people would agree.”
Meanwhile, the Stoutland School spoke about the incident and told KY3 that the school district was aware of a member of their Board of Education making derogatory comments about people with certain disabilities. The school asserted that one member of the board does not represent the entire board or the district.
Their statement added:
“The District is steadfast in its compliance with both the requirements of and the spirit of non-discrimination laws and our own Board-adopted policies regarding the same. Our school district welcomes students of all backgrounds, regardless of ability, and provides educational opportunities and services to each and everyone with commitment and care.”
Rick Morrow sent in his letter of resignation to the school district, which will now be presented to the board at their next meeting, as confirmed by the Stoutland School District.
