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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 » |
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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.  |
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This "pastor" sounds like he just had a "bad break-up" with his boyfriend!
Just another crazy southerner. As I have said many times, Lincoln should of let the south go.
As a proud person below the Mason Dixon line and descendant of slaves, thank goodness you were wrong.
*should HAVE, not should of
The worst thing to happen to the South was Lincoln's assassination.
Stupid is as stupid does – Forrest Gump.
Sounds like HIlter and his concentration camps. Funny how someone preaches to do good can be so evil.
But what if they 'baby-killer' only kills gay babies? Is that ok? haha. This guy is warped.
Why the big deal over this wing nut? This is the same mental philosophy that bans gay marriage, that says marriage is between a man and woman. Course in their world it's OK if they are brother and sister.
What is it about the sick minds in N.C. who cant love their God without hating someone ? Nothing like some hate to bring people together.
The Lord will lay his hate and evil at his feet, and he will know that the things he has said are a tarnish on his soul.
I read once that bigotry is inversely proportional to self esteem.
These bible thumpers are truely a disgusting lot.
"I love you more than you love yourself"... that's why I want you to ne fenced up so you'll die off. Actually, the way he believes (which is absurd), if these "lesbians and gays" died now they would all go to hell. If he ACTUALLY loved them he would just pray for them and ask God to save them, but in reality, he just wants them dead.
I could not stop laughing at how this idiot talks. Again' it again' it! What? lol. I'm pretty sure he meant against it.
There something interesting about the fence idea but i would put these Hateful Christians in there instead so they could live their hateful lives among themselves.
you need a big fence 98% of Americans are Christian
98%....thats not at all accurate!
98% ?!? You are a fool and are just making things up.
@Not interested...
I would say that you might be completely wrong. Saying that 98% of US citizens are Christian is like saying that %50 of US citizens are Republican and %50 are Democratic.
Read it slowly.
Religion is one of the few social arenas where this kind of speech is openly tolerated. It shouldn't be. It's backward and stupid to the core.
it is why we have the first amendment i this country. it is your comment that is backwards, ignorant, and stupid
By not tolerated, I mean his congregation should have the sense to walk out on him and refuse to support him with their donations.
The first amendment does NOT protect speech that is threatening or directly incites or attempts to incite violence. There are limits to all freedoms guaranteed to us. This man is calling for the mass extermination of a group of human beings who share a common trait. Does this sound familiar? You've probably read about the Holocaust? The Armenian or Rwandan or Somalian or Serbian genocides?
That's the nice part about the concept of free speech ... it allows ignorant, hateful, gnarled trolls like this guy to out themselves. Don't be outraged, be relieved that we know who people like this really are. And don't mistake him and his most fervent followers for Christians either; they people who cherry-pick from the Bible those verses that support their hatreds and happily ignore the rest.
"And don't mistake him and his most fervent followers for Christians either"
I would like to believe that, but I spent much of my life in rural NC, and this is not at all out of the mainstream. This is what Christianity is in those communities. These are the people who want to be able to make social policy for the rest of us and they are not some wingnut minority – they are the norm in many places.
That could be in North Carolina, and fundy churches elsewhere, but in the grand scheme of Christianity, they're a far-right niche. Fun to watch these guys implode though.
Last time that electric fence idea was tried, it resulted in war crimes trials. Does this fraud posing as a pastor want to be next?
put this clown inside an electric fence.
Clearly he is "Again'it."
lol! I thought I was the only one that found that hilarious.
If that's his version of love, then the man needs a dictionary.
Cool. This guy has it all figured out. We don't even need God – he can condemn and punish on his own right here on earth.