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- Sen. Mike Lee suggested that the disaster at Burning Man was caused by divine intervention.
- "God's judgement is real," he tweeted, highlighting wild sexual activities performed at the festival.
- He also mused about attendees converting to Christianity after being stranded by a rainstorm.
Republican Sen. Mike Lee of Utah suggested late on Sunday that the disaster at this year's Burning Man festival may have been the result of divine intervention.
Festival-goers were told to shelter in place and conserve food and water this weekend after a heavy rainstorm created muddy conditions on the desert roads leading in and out of Black Rock City, a temporary metropolis in the middle of the desert in the northwest part of Nevada where the festival is held annually.
One person has died, and some attendees are fleeing the festival by hiking through the mud as others ration out their food.
Lee, a devout Mormon who's represented Utah in the US Senate since 2011, highlighted some of the wild sexual activities that some attendees took part in during the festival — including orgies and group orgasm hypnosis sessions — as news of the disaster continued to unfold.
"This isn't healthy," Lee wrote on Twitter. "God's judgment is real."
—Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) September 4, 2023
In a separate tweet, Lee mused that some attendees may have converted to Christianity following the disaster, citing the "road to Damascus" story from the New Testament of the Bible in which St. Paul converted to Christianity after being temporarily blinded by a bright light amid his persecution of Christians.
—Mike Lee (@BasedMikeLee) September 4, 2023
Lee's Senate office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
President Joe Biden was briefed about the situation at Burning Man on Sunday, according to a White House official, while Democratic Sen. Jacky Rosen of Nevada said she was "monitoring the situation at Burning Man closely."