 |
|
|
|
|
May 22nd, 2012
11:23 AM ET
Video of North Carolina pastor's plan to 'get rid of' gays goes viralBy Dan Gilgoff, CNN.com Religion Editor (CNN) - Video of a North Carolina pastor preaching that gays and lesbians should be rounded up inside an electric fence is going viral on the Internet, two weeks after North Carolina passed a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage and President Barack Obama voiced personal support for legalizing such marriages. "I figured a way out, a way to get rid of all the lesbians and queers, but I couldn't get it past the Congress," Pastor Charles L. Worley can be seen telling his Providence Road Baptist Church congregation in the video, which had more than 250,000 YouTube views by Tuesday. "Build a great big, large fence - 50 or a 100 miles long - and put all the lesbians in there,” Worley went on to say in his May 13 sermon at his Maiden, North Carolina, church. “Fly over and drop some food. Do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals, and have that fence electrified so they can't get out. Feed them. And you know in a few years, they'll die out. You know why? They can't reproduce." My Take: The Bible condemns a lot, but here's why we focus on homosexuality The video had initially been posted on Providence Road’s website but was recently taken down, according to CNN affiliate WBTV-TV in Charlotte. The phone line at Worley’s church was busy on Monday night and on Tuesday, as was Worley’s home number on Tuesday. The church’s website was down Tuesday morning, but it had described the house of worship as fundamentalist, meaning it represents a Baptist tradition that's more conservative than the Southern Baptists. My Take: The Christian case for gay marriage Worley’s sermon was posted on YouTube by a group called Catawba Valley Citizens Against Hate, which is organizing a protest at the Providence Road Baptist Church on Sunday. Addressing his congregation last Sunday, Worley referred to his earlier controversial sermon. "I talked a little bit, I believe it was last Sunday, on the homosexual lifestyle, and there was a whole lot of people who didn't like what I said," Worley told his congregation Sunday, according to WBTV. "I want to read it out of the Bible, and then we'll go from there." CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories “Listen, all of the Sodomites, the lesbians, and all of the ... what's that word? Gays - I didn't wanna say 'queers' - that say we don't love you, I love you more than you love yourself,” Worley said, according to WBTV. “I'm praying for you to be saved." Worley’s initial sermon was partly framed as a response to Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage, which he made in a TV interview a day after North Carolina voters passed a state constitutional amendment banning legal recognition of such marriages and other types of gay unions. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, or GLAAD, was working Tuesday to gather criticism of Worley’s comments from other North Carolina pastors. “I am angry and sick at heart over Pastor Worley's comments,” said the Rev. Dennis Teall-Fleming, pastor at Open Hearts Gathering in Gastonia, North Carolina, in a statement distributed by GLAAD. “Nothing he says has anything to do with the Gospel of Jesus Christ,” said Teall-Fleming, who leads a Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) congregation. “I call on all Christian and Baptist organizations that have any connection with him to condemn his comments as strongly as I do, including Providence Road Baptist Church of Maiden.” soundoff (5,806 Responses)« Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 Next » |
  About this blog
The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
|
|
|
I'd like to 'electrify' this preacher with a cattle prod.
I second that!
I second that motion.
Something tells me this little closet pervert would enjoy a cattle prod. It is men/cowards like this man who usually end up being caught with either a dead little girl, or a live little boy in their bed.
Motion carried! Who has the cattle prod?
Where is the line for this?
ok so this is who gave hitler the idea for concentration camps and the settlers their ideas for putting my ancestors on "reservations" sick pr.ick. how do we isolate the hateful people and keep the good ones; that is a better question.
Although I do not put down anyone's faith, region has been used too often to commit crimes against humanity, genocide, murder, etc. The problem is that those people of faith that are decent human beings, never take the necessary steps to rid their religion of these monsters.
@steve: i agree. i know plenty of really good religious folks. it's the crazies that are giving good people a bad name.
Give them a nice apartment in Gingrich's moon colony?
@Steve and WASP, agree! The hypocrites give Christians a bad name by using religion to spread hate, victims hate the wackos and religion in turn, and the vicious cycle continues...
Fantastic, another bigot pasted from the south spouting hate in the name of god. Proud aren't you North Carolina?
NO- as a North Carolinian, I am not proud! Please do not lump all of us into a catergory with this judgemental human being. His God will judge him soon enough......
As a North Carolinian, I am ashamed for him, but as the previous comment said – this man does not speak for our entire state. However, as a mother of two little boys who have two loving gay uncles, my family has seriously considered moving.
Sorry Danielle, we wont lump you all in the same category, just the ones who vote.
Heck no I'm not proud to be from NC. It brings a great deal of shame to me that this is how the people of our state are being perceived. This isn't even about whether you believe being gay is a sin or if it is ok. This is about the ugliness of bigotry. There are lots of things I live with and around every day that I don't agree with, but it isn't my business and I don't make it my business. This guy is just stupid. Gay people are born of straight parents in almost every case. If every gay died today, there would be more born tomorrow. It is a fact of nature and we need to just let it go.
I am from NC and I don't agree with this load of crap. I voted against amendment one. Apparently, the majority of North Carolinians didn't agree with me.
I am from NC and I think this person is repulsive. He is one ignorant moron and does not represent me nor lots of others I know in NC.
I live really close to this church. I am NOT surprised at all. I can't begin to explain just how much support this kind of ridiculous rant gets around this area. It is embarrassing and as anti-"christ" as one can be.
Charles L. Worley is a fool and dangerous person.He should be throw in a pit and left to die.
you sounded just like him. he wants an electric fence. you want a pit.
Preachers of his ilk are simply attempting to keep their coffers full by taking the easy route of stirring the tasty pot du jour. His goal is to rile the weaker minds of his flock into an empassioned frenzy, secure their loyalty by convincing them that their "church" is protecting them from this self-constructed evil, and ultimately securing cash flow for his own future.
He is nothing but a wolf in sheep's clothing.
Put all the bigoted christians in an electric pen at the bottom of the ocean.
Ah, so when he says it it is wrong, but it's ok for you to say it. Hypocrit.
Poor Topher, just doesn't get it. Maybe someday your baby jesus will teach you to read.
Well, there I go being un-perfect again. Perhaps you in all your wisdom can tell me what I'm not getting.
Topher does get it, you all don't. You just want to hear validation of your beliefs, no ifs and or buts. Tolerance of other's ideas is fine as long as you agree with it, otherwise it is just wrong-that seems to be what you are saying. That's the hypocrisy. Your thinking is not very different from this nut job preacher. Sure the content is different, but the method or way of thinking is identical.
Marc L says: Tolerance of other's ideas is fine as long as you agree with it, otherwise it is just wrong-that seems to be what you are saying. That's the hypocrisy. Your thinking is not very different from this nut job preacher. Sure the content is different, but the method or way of thinking is identical.
It's funny how people who spout intolerance and hatred always throw back "tolerance" whenever they're called on their hatred.
Republicans/conservatives/haters do it all the time - they want to make baseless attacks without impunity, but when the same tactics are used against them, they cry the victim.
There is no such thing as a christain bigot. every one that says lord,lord will not inter into heaven.A lot of people think just because you go to church that you are a christain. not true.You can tell a tree by the fruit it bares.
There is no such thing as a christain bigot. every one that says lord,lord will not inter into hevan.
People like Worley are the best argument for birth control.
You are so right!
Churches like to molest children behind closed doors and then preach against being gay. Makes me furious!
While I agree the church and it's more radical followers are the biggest hypocrites, there is a vast difference between being gay and being a pedophile.
Xtianity has always been violent and hate-filled. If you don't believe me, read the Bible. Also read The Encyclopedia of Religious Violence (but set aside a couple of weeks to read it...it's over 900 pages).
and it would take quite a while to read the tens of millions of names of people sent to the gulags and/or executed by the atheistic communist regimes (stalin, mao, pol pot, etc.).
Can we just agree that PEOPLE are violent and hate-filled, and use their religion or lack thereof to justify their actions? Saying that religion is the source of the problem is immature and never leads to peaceful resolution.
@whatajoke – Trying to tie Communism/Socialism to Atheism is ludicrous. They (the political ideologies) did not arise FROM atheism, in fact, you might say they became their own 'religion'. Atheism may have been a tenet of those schools of thought, but they were not systems dedicated to the promulgation of a religious viewpoint. The inquisition, crusades, etc., ad nauseum, were DIRECTLY related to religion. Big difference. It's intellectually disingenious to equate the two. The religious right grasping at straws.
I agree that it's people's evil intentions that result in their evil deeds. Religion is only the excuse used by some of them while the real reason is usually power, greed, ego, etc. The only difference with horrific acts perpetrated atheists is that they don't commit those acts "in the name of" atheism. Yet they are still just as evil as those who commit such acts in the name of a particular religion.
SeilnoigileR
Jesus Christ, who was brutally slaughtered by poly theistic ( some would say atheist) culture came to destroy religeon and its leaders. He called them hounds of hell and serpants. He turned over their tables and threatened them with whips made from chords...
This is no surprise, this is the thinking of many people living here. I say we start shooting back. This guy should be taken out.
Are you saying He should be killed? That's what this sounds like. And you think THAT GUY is the crazy one?
As the liberals are quick to say "Thou shall not judge."
I'm a liberal and I'm quick to judge in this case – the guy's on videotape.
These are the Mitt Romney people. Go ahead, let them win, and you may find yourself rounded up due to a lack of oversight from the White House.
I'm a a christian and because of my understanding of the Bible I'm also a liberal. When Jesus says "who are you to cast the first stone?" he's is saying that you are not in a position to judge what a person final destiny is supposed to be. That we should remember our own sins and faults before we come down on others. He wasn't saying "Don't ever speak up. Don't ever try to correct someone else". It's okay to do that as long as it's done with love and kindness in order to correct – not punish. Jesus certainly didn't shy away from judging the Pharisees or money changers.
The Bible doesn't say "Thou shall not judge."
@Topher you are right. The Bible (pick your version) quote is Matthew 1:1-5 (Also in Luke). I prefer the entire text because it is much more powerful.
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. 2 For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
3 “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? 4 How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? 5 You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.
Guys like this will help ensure Obama's re-election.
Amazing simalarities between Nazi's and America's far Right.
Conservative America doesn't realize how close they are to being exterminated.
Keep drinking the kool aid.
Justin, you must be drinking a cooler of it from FOX and friends on the right. Research it, Sly has.
Really? You don't even know what NAZI stands for do you. Look it up a hole...they were a left wing socialist group that wanted to exterminate Jews just like the communists and socialists libs today. The democrat party has much more in common with the Nazis then any other political party in the world.
Brian, you must have researched this from the Fox News Encylopedia. Nazis were RIGHT WING. No such thing as a left wing Nazi.
Brian's simpistic interpretation of NAZI, often spouted by the right wing, originates in the etymology of "NAZI": National Socialist German Workers Party. Of course, educated historians, are fully aware that it was anything but socialist in operation and is considered extreme right wing in a historical context, as was Mussolini's Fascists, so that the two, become somewhat interchangable. The name "National Socialists", was simply to give the party wider (initial) appeal to both nationslist and socialist, while of course offering nothing democratic or sociaisticl, once in power. Those in the Repuplican camp, that repeatedly use the "Liberals are Nazis" position, unfortunately, just propagate their own ignorance of history and in turn simply make themselves look that way, i.e. ignorant.
This preacher should have his church taxed since there is nothing but politics going on in that church. God made the gays and lesbians to test if man would treat God's children the way Jesus taught us to. Looks like they failed.
What a marvelous way of putting that!
That was a very insightful comment, thanks.
We have to live with this now. It is 2012 and that is the bottom line. Que sera - sera !!!! You can't legislate this stuff negatively anymore.
If this guy is telling me how to vote then his church should not be tax exempt.
What good are you doing CNN by giving this ingrate a banner headline ? This is a non story..which you are exploiting.
Wrong James, this is exactly what we should be seeing in the media so the ignorant fools who think all religious leaders are above board can get educated. People who believe what this idiot is preaching are the dredges of America. The cling to their bible and don't use common sense or compassion for others for that matter. They don't even realize they are mocking what Christians are suppose to stand for....love and acceptance, right? America, wake up and vote for leaders who are not hung up on religious ideology. Mittens falls in to this category although he keeps it in the background, like his money in the Caymens.
Just to clarify. I meant to say that Mittens stands for religous ideology, even though his handlers make sure he doesn't mention it.
Jesus is embarrassed by Worley.
I work by the state capitol here in California, and we get all sorts of loony folks espousing hateful things, from the KKK to the Black Panthers and everything in between. Still, they have a right to freely speak, and since what this pastor said occurred on private property (e.g. church grounds), I could care less. If that's what his congregation wants to hear, that's their business. As long as he doesn't physically try to put LGBT folks behind a fence, then this is a moot point.
Do you HONESTLY believe that the "ignore it and it will go away approach" is best?...Do you REALLY not believe that words can lead to actions?
Not under the banner of tax exempt status if he starts instructing people how to vote. He needs to be apolitical in this regard.
He has every right to say what he is saying. I support that right and will defend that right but I am under no obligation to agree with it, respect it, or support it beyond making sure he can say it. I also have the right to say what I want after all.
Freedom of Speech is not a right, when it causes violence and hate.
You could care less?
Great, now that we've established that you DO care about it (because if you didn't care, then you COULDN'T care less), maybe you can provide something a little more productive?
The sad thing is, the guy still thinks he's a Christian. I believe that the first 30 seconds after his eventual death are going to prove to be a very warm surprise to him.
No, it doesn't work that way, either.
God's just pretend
Wow love how the left will be quick to defend anyone attacking Muslims for the actions and words that some of them perpetrate, but then when ONE pastor in North Carolina says something completely anti Christian, the whole of Christianity is defective according to many liberals. The hypocrisy is amazing.
Be consistent is all I ask.
Give some REAL examples of the left supporting hate speech about Muslims. No one said all Christians are bad just the ones that promote bigotry and hate like this guy.
uhhh.. Justin. Do you think you might be generalizing just a bit here?
Maybe a bit, but much of the left has an inherit hate for anything resembling the Christian Faith.
Amen, Justin. I am a Christian, but I don't like being lumped together with this bigot. The more attention we give him, the more others like him will continue to spout off and give Christians as a whole a bad name. And you're right, let's be sure to let the Muslims bash us all they want...we wouldn't want to offend them.
F.Y.I. Justin. Plenty of those on the 'left' are Christians.
Um, one's political compass and religious affiliation are not mutually exclusive. Maybe 'you' need to lay off the Kool-Aid tactics of the GOP where they love to create the "in group" and demonize the "out group."
You can be a Liberal Christian, a Moderate Hindu, a Conservative Atheist, or a Gnostic Apathist (I know I don't give a crap!).
This guy is giving christians a bad name, just the same as extremest muslims preaching hate gives islam a bad name, or any other religion giving their religion a bad name by preaching hate.
Justin, I am on the way left, as far as you can go. I would never lump this crazy hate filled so-called christian with the people who are really......."Christ like". The thing is, anyone can call themself a Christian but to really be one you have to be Christ like and to be honest there are few people in this world like that. The term "Christian" really is a man-made term anyway so Christ is probably laughing at the majority who call themselves this.
ONE pastor?
No, it's not just one pastor. It's a never ending stream of pastors, priests, bishops, and reverends, all spouting the same hateful crap. Nobody's judging Christianity based on this one guy alone. He's part of a pattern.