Understanding the Drummond’s Tavern Lightning Strike
In a recent column I mentioned my feeling that much of what is presented to us as fact, whether on line, on the air, or in print, is not. We are fed biased and untrue material every day, often assuming that people who bring us the news do some checking. Often they do not, especially if they like the story.
A case in point has to do with an article I saw recently in a newspaper (not The Express). The gist of it was that the manager of a tavern called Drummond’s in Mount Vernon, Texas, set out to build an addition. Members of the local Baptist church objected; objected to the point of protesting and praying for divine intervention. The bar was struck by lightning, the article read, and burned to the ground. The owner then sued the church, saying the event had been brought on by prayers of the defendants. The church responded by calling the suit absurd; claiming their prayers could not have had anything to do with the lightning strike.
A judge reviewed the case, then remarked that the decision would be difficult as on one side was a bar-owner who believed in the power of prayer, on the other a church congregation that did not.
I was doubtful, but the story had a degree of credence because it named the town and the tavern. To find out I called Susan Reeves, editor of the Mount Vernon Optic-Herald. She observed that she’s been getting similar calls since about 2003. The event lives on, even though it did not happen.
The bar, Ms. Reeves told me, is still standing. There are three local Baptist churches. No one is known to have prayed for the place to burn, and if someone did the effort failed. There is no lawsuit. The entire episode is complete fiction.
Still, she said, the account is treated by many as a legitimate news item.
She’s right. There are dozens of internet sites, including presumably reputable sources, that carried the story. A couple of them questioned it; most did not.
Why? I suspect in part because it’s amusing. In other cases, though, this was treated as gospel because it confirmed what was already believed that people of religion compound their dim wittedness by being hypocritical.
And whether the bloggers believe the story to be true or not, a great many of their readers do. The comments include the following: “Yes, I grew up near there. That’s just the way those people are.” “Perfect!
These religious zealots think there’s power in prayer and now they have to admit there isn’t.” “I’ve checked, and this is a true story.” “They deserve it.” “ Hope they lose the lawsuit.”
Ms. Reeves said the Baptist story isn’t the only local hoax that’s been around for years. Another fabrication, she said, has to do with a nearby town reputed to have the world’s largest hot dog statue.
An out-of-state newspaper picked the story up and now travelers stop by regularly, Ms. Reeves said, asking where the giant weenie is located. There isn’t one, and as she’s a newspaper editor who lives there I’ll take her word for it.
Roy Marshall is a local historian and columnist for the Red Oak Express. He can be contacted at news@redoakexpress.com