Baptist pastor uses AI to depict himself as demon smashing Marian statue

A Baptist pastor named Shelly, who previously gained attention for having children smash statues of the Blessed Theotokos, has released an AI-generated video. In it, he portrays himself as Rumpelstiltskin, a demonic figure from folklore, wielding a hammer to destroy a statue of the Virgin Mary. The author of the post points out an apparent contradiction: Shelly's tradition rejects graven images, yet he employs artificial intelligence to create a detailed visual representation of the very figure he opposes venerating.

The author argues that the choice to depict himself as a demon attacking the image suggests the hostility is directed at Mary herself, not merely at the physical object of a statue. The video raises questions about the consistency of iconoclast arguments when modern technology is used to produce the images they condemn.