Pastor defends comments that Primark fire in Belfast was an act of God
Pastor Colin Houston believes God's wrath cause the blaze which destroyed the 233-year-old building
By Steve Brown
A pastor has defended his comments that the Primark fire in Belfast was an act of God.
The store was destroyed after a fire ravaged through the flagship shop destroying the 233-year-old building on Tuesday (August 28) and came just weeks after it was criticised for installing a LGBT-inclusive window display ahead of Belfast Pride.
Although no cause of fire has been identified as of yet, many have claimed that it was an act of God following the Pride controversy including the former Ulster Unionist Party council candidate Pastor Colin Houston.
However, Houston now told Sunday Life that he believes in his comments and the fire was caused by the store’s window display.
He said: “God is not mocked, they had two windows exploiting this and telling people to come in and buy their clothes.
“You can’t tell me that is a coincidence, many years ago I worked in it as a security guard for a number of years, so I understand that everybody loves it, that it was a great shop.
“But once you go down that line, that you show your window off and use it as a political stunt to try to get custom, that’s not the right way to live.”
The pastor recently received a 30-day ban from Facebook for a post about an LGBT+ event in Belfast and refused to accept his comments could be hurtful.
He continued: “Why would it be hurtful? I’m a minister, 26 years ago somebody said to me that I was living the wrong way,” he said.
“I carried on living the way I wanted to live but I realised it was not a fruitful lifestyle, so I changed my lifestyle, it might be hurtful at the time but it’s the truth.
“They can choose whatever way they want to live but there’s consequences, when you mock God, God does not just sit back and watch.
“He holds hands back for so long then what happens is he turns round and shows you, he’s not doing it to harm them but to show them this is not the right way to go.”