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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 is pretty sick. These people need to get up and leave and never go back. What a horrible thing to say.
That being said, most Republicans do not feel this way. I am a Republican and support GLTB rights. Don't be fooled into voting for into socialist Obama who is going to spend us into bankruptcy because of this issue. Mitt Romney is undoubtedly as disgusted as the rest of us with this lunatic.
I'd be more inclined to Mitt if he didn't spend all his time pandering to bigots like this guy.
I agree that this shouldn't be made into a political issue. I think its sad that people were in the congregation saying "Amen" instead of getting up and walking out.
Jackie-read CNN today and you will learn that Obama is actually spending less than any president since Eisenhower. The "free spending" label is just more Republican lies. How far did you get in school?
I'm "agin" hate speech pastor Worley!
I always thought it was hilarious to hear people that speak like that complain about how black people in cities talk. They are both equally far away from actual American-English
It is amazing how people will use religion and Jesus to defend their political agendas, bigotry and hatred. It is nothing new. What do you think the crusades were about? In this country, religion was used to defend slavery, laws against interracial marriage, women's right to vote. It is no surprise that gay marriage is treated the same way. Why are these Christians so obsessed with a small percentage of the population's right to the same freedoms that everyone has. If marriage is so precious, make it illegal to divorce. Let's see how well that goes over with the general population. That would never happen of course, because it isn't the government or church's business. A shame. Thank you to the Americans who have let freedom and reason prevail.
Actually, I'm pretty sure that's what Jesus would have done. I remember that old story from the Good Book about the time Jesus took all the tax collectors and merchants from the temple and put them in an electric fence enclosure, while laughing from the outside and drawing unbelievable conclusions that soon there would be no tax collectors because they couldn't reproduce.
Perhaps you read this "good book" while smoking crack? Your account makes great ficiton though. Did Jesus own a labtop and have access to an electric fence? Put down the pipe Looney Tunes...
@Christine – Did you hear the sound of me slapping my forehead from where you are? I'm pretty sure it covered the whole mid-atlantic.
God is "agin" it. Wow. What a way to make a fool out of yourself in front of America.
Now you know why NC Schools are 48th in the nation.
Hopefully this pastor was only "jesting", as poor taste as the jest was/is – he still has free speech. He should not be "shot at dawn for his comments" no more than gays or lesbians should be rounded up and fenced in. God help.
Sure he should be shot down. Part of freedom of speech is that you are held accountable for what you say
Did he sound like he was jesting?
That's crazy, Joyce.
Well, I finally got to see Pastor Charles L. Worley,s sermon. He is by all rights a cross between Hitler and the Grand Wizard of the KKK. WOW
Please find me the place in the bible that talks about electric fences and dropping food from airplanes. This may seem like an outrageous way of arguing against what this tool is saying, but if he argues literalism, I will attack (and defeat) him with literalism....
I don't know about the bible but you might find it in mein kampf.
This video just makes me ashamed to live in this country.
According to the protest organizers, the churchn is calling an emergency congregational meeting tonight. I wonder what they'll talk about?
I hope they are talking about getting a lawyer to fight their impending demise.
I'm agin it? I'm from NC and I dont know anyone that says that.What an idiot
This cr@p has gone on long enough. My boyfriend and I will be sitting in the front row of our local Baptist Church (in Beggs, Oklahoma), holding hands for the Sunday morning service.
Good for you. You can never be wrong by doing the right thing.
I got a better idea. Let's round up the bigots and haters and put an electric fence around them. And, because they reproduce, let's sterilize them.
This pastor is preaching hate and basically condoning violence against gays and lesbians. Round 'em up and electrify the fence. Can anyone say Hitler?
The church website is down "exceeded bandwith". But this guy is selling his sermons online. I don't know if I should put the site in so I won't. Weird thing...no 'contact us' button on the site. Not even a webmaster. He's in hiding. But selling his sermons. You can find the sales site with a little searching.
The church itself is not in hiding. Bar the doors. Shut it down.
I assume that both the State of North Carolina and the federal government have now yanked the tax exempt status of that church. Preaching politics is supposed to result in loss of tax-free status–at both federal and state level. North Carolinians-call your local legislator and ask if this has happened.
It is not ok to preach politics from a church pulpit-. This is basic in separation of church and state.
Right on, nightshiftsurvey!
Someone should tell this man how I am saving myself for black Jesus. Praise be to the B.B.C!
That's right....no one gets an abortion, but lets kill all the lesbians and gays. I'm ashamed to be from the south.
Wonder what the minister's stance is on divorce.
I believe the man identifying himself as a pastor should be arrested for inciting hate crime, as well as lose the church's tax free status because he clearly made a political statement, mixing politics with religion. Thank you for reading my comments.
He's just reitterating what the bible says. Read Leviticus 20:13.
@Honey Badger – Leviticus 25:44 “‘Your male and female slaves are to come from the nations around you; from them you may buy slaves. 45 You may also buy some of the temporary residents living among you and members of their clans born in your country, and they will become your property. 46 You can bequeath them to your children as inherited property and can make them slaves for life, but you must not rule over your fellow Israelites ruthlessly.
Exodus 21:20 “Anyone who beats their male or female slave with a rod must be punished if the slave dies as a direct result, 21 but they are not to be punished if the slave recovers after a day or two, since the slave is their property.
Amen and Amen.
The Bible isn't meant to be "pick-and-choose" reading. The overall message of "be nice to one another and help the poor and vulnerable" should be the thing that people quote, not finding tiny little lines that claim that gay people deserve to die.
@patrick
@honeyBadger
The U.S. army took scalps of Indians does that mean we should take scalps today? What the heck is wrong with you guys that you actually think you are onto something here?