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May 31st, 2012
05:17 AM ET
Church videos with harsh words for gays go viral onlineBy Richard Allen Greene and Dan Gilgoff, CNN First it was a Christian pastor in North Carolina who told his congregation on Mother's Day that the way "to get rid of all the lesbians and queers" was to put them behind an electric fence and wait for them to die out. That video went viral, fetching more than a million views on YouTube. On Sunday, Pastor Curtis Knapp of Kansas preached that the government should kill homosexuals, in another videotaped sermon that drew lots of online attention. "They won't, but they should," Knapp said, according to a recording of his sermon posted online. Since that sermon, another church video with harsh words for gays has caught fire online. This one shows a young boy singing an anti-gay song while the congregation cheers him on in what appears to be a church in Indiana. "I know the Bible’s right, somebody’s wrong,” the boy sings near the pulpit of a church. “Ain't no homos gonna make it to heaven." As the boy repeats the line “Ain't no homos gonna make it to heaven," congregants from the pews rise and cheer. The video, which was anonymously posted online and has received more than 300,000 views on YouTube, appears to show a service at the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle Church in Greensburg, Indiana. Calls to the church this week went to voicemail, with an automatic message saying the mailbox is full. But a message posted on the church’s website on Wednesday appears to address the controversy, offering no apology for the video. “The Pastor and members of Apostolic Truth Tabernacle do not condone, teach, or practice hate of any person for any reason. We believe and hope that every person can find true Bible salvation and the mercy and grace of God in their lives,” the statement says. “We are a strong advocate of the family unit according to the teachings and precepts found in the Holy Bible,” said the statement, which did not explicitly refer to the video or mention homosexuality. “We believe the Holy Bible is the Divinely-inspired Word of God and we will continue to uphold and preach that which is found in scripture.” The viral videos have drawn criticism from gay and lesbian groups and their allies. Charles Worley’s sermon at Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, North Carolina, sparked a protest that drew more than 1,500 people last weekend. In Kansas, Knapp's voicemail at the New Hope Baptist Church in Seneca was filled with messages saying "things you don't want your kids to hear," he told CNN affiliate KTKA. An official with the Kansas-Nebraska Convention of Southern Baptists issued a statement to CNN on Thursday saying that Knapp’s church had left the Southern Baptist fold in 2010. “Obviously, he has taken a radical and unbiblical stand in regards to homosexuality,” said Tim Boyd, communications director for the convention. “We look at homosexuals as we look at all sinners,” his statement said. “God loves them. Christ died for them. The Gospel calls them to repentance and salvation. Therefore, we as Christ-followers should hate the sin and love the sinner.” But Knapp is not backing away from his comments. "We punish pedophilia. We punish incest. We punish polygamy and various things. It's only homosexuality that is lifted out as an exemption," he said. He cited the Biblical verse Leviticus 20:13: "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act. They shall surely be put to death." But he said gay people had nothing to worry about from the government or from him. "I don't believe I should lay a finger against them," said Knapp, of New Hope Baptist Church in Seneca, Kansas. "My hope is for their salvation, not for their death." Preaching against homosexuality the same day, another pastor appeared to wrestle with how conservative Christians should respond to proposals that people should literally mete out biblical punishments. "What about this guy down in North Carolina said build a big prison, a big fence and put them all in there and let them die out?" Dennis Leatherman asked in a sermon at the Mountain Lake Independent Baptist Church in Maryland. "Listen, I don't know that fellow. As far as I can tell, he seems like a decent guy, but he is dead wrong on that. That is not the scriptural response," Leatherman said in his sermon "Homosexuality & the Bible," according to a cached version of the transcript posted online. The audio of the sermon does not appear on his church's website. In the sermon, he floats the idea of killing homosexuals, whom he refers to as sodomites, then backs away from it. "There is a danger of reacting in the flesh, of responding not in a scriptural, spiritual way, but in a fleshly way. Kill them all. Right? I will be very honest with you. My flesh kind of likes that idea," Leatherman said. "But it grieves the Holy Spirit. It violates Scripture. It is wrong," he added immediately. The Southern Baptist Convention distanced itself from Worley's remarks. The nation's largest Baptist group said Providence Road Baptist in Maiden is not affiliated with its 16 million-member denomination and condemned the comments. But the influential head of the giant movement's seminary does argue that homosexuality "is the most pressing moral question of our times." In a comment piece for the Belief Blog in the wake of Worley's sermon, R. Albert Mohler Jr. dismissed critics who say conservative Christians focus on homosexuality while ignoring other things the Bible prohibits. He contends that laws about keeping kosher, for example, do not apply to Christians, while commandments about homosexuality do. "When it comes to homosexuality, the Bible's teaching is consistent, pervasive, uniform and set within a larger context of law and Gospel," he wrote. "Christians who are seriously committed to the authority of the Bible have no choice but to affirm all that the Bible teaches, including its condemnation of homosexuality," he said. A member of Worley's 300-member church defended him in an interview with CNN's Anderson Cooper. "Of course he would never want that to be done," Stacey Pritchard said of the proposal to put homosexuals behind a fence and leave them there to die out. "But I agree with what the sermon was and what it was about." CNN Belief Blog co-editor Eric Marrapodi contributed to this report. soundoff (4,073 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 Next »
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There's a big difference between Pedophilia and Polygamy. Polygamy is multi-spouses of age and free will. It is in it's true form victimless. Pedophiles victimize, and should be illegal. I view Polygamy the same as I do same s.ex couples – to each their own. Although I am guilty of judging polygamist men as insane......keeping one wife happy is difficult enough! ;-}
Well put, although I suspect these clods are incapable of the nuance needed to understand your point.
drew, man your panties are really in a twist. Relax
calmer then you are
Isn't "Thou shalt not kill" still part of the 10 Commandments?
What do we call people who consider themselves religious and kill others for having different beliefs? Terrorists
Ship these clods off to Gitmo or better yet Saudi Arabia or Iran for a taste of religious freedom.
Heaven (?) help me but I must defend their right to spew such ungodly venom.
By the way, when I see an original version of the Bible written by God himself that is when I will believe it is the word of God. Until that time I will consider the writings in the Bible to be of those of one group trying to impress their power on another group. Nothing more, nothing less.
Well said.
There are a lot more "Thou Must Kill" laws in the Bible than there are commandments against it. But it's not a contradiction, really.
And besides, God loves to kill – he's done some whopper mass murders himself, and the biggest and best is yet to come!
In Matthew 5:17-19 Christ makes it very clear that Mosaic Law is to be upheld.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Read the Egyptian Book of the Dead. They stole the 10 Commandments.
"What do we call people who consider themselves religious and kill others for having different beliefs? Terrorists."
Um. No. Actually, we would call them followers of your god. Exodus 22:20 Whoever sacrifices to any other god than the Lord must be destroyed.
Oh my dear me. Next thing you know the government should be killing atheists. This is gettin' kinda scary folks. My wife and I weren't married in a church. Does that count agin' us? So the sum of it all is that everybody needs to be straight and religious...out of fear. People like this man do not put the fear of God in me. They just scare the S***outta me.
What a coward! He won't lift a finger to harm gays, but he wants the government to do his murdering for him. So much for small government! This guy is why we need to outlaw religion. More trouble than it's worth.
people are way too touchy!
deal with it people!
Murders a pretty big deal, even if it is only being discussed. Also, there are countries in the world where gays actually are rounded up and killed, so I think you should be a bit more sensitive
yeah seriously, whats so bad about advocating that the government should kill gays.
What an redneck Idiot. He's probably gay himself.
Drew, I think your skin is mighty thin
I almost choked on my shrimp scampi when I read this. I guess I better read my bible more carefully. Now excuse me, my teenage kid just cursed at me. I need to stone him at the walls of the city. After that I think I'll boil a goat in its mother's milk.
In Matthew 5:17-19 Christ makes it very clear that Mosaic Law is to be upheld.
Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfill them. I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth disappear, not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished. Anyone who breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
I think I'm in trouble. Some glowing old dude came down from the sky and smiled at me when I was throwing rocks at my kid for cursing at me, but the old man from the sky got pretty mad when I boiled that goat in its mother's milk. Now I've got boils everywhere. What should I do? Do you think its a reaction from wearing cotton and wool clothes?
According to Christ you should stone your disobedient children and should not wear blended fabric.
Its getting worse. I'm afflicted with hemorrhoids, scurvy, and the itch. Will I find a cure?
"Pastor" Curtis Knapp makes a great argument for Atheism.
Bingo. That is the great thing about the Knapps and Phelps' of the world.
Sounds about right...can you say right wing nut job?
Jesus weeps for his hateful heart.
who told you Jeebus was the christ ?
Bippy told me I was the christ. There are prophecies about me. Bow before me. Bippy is the LESSER god.
Unfortuanately, many lunatic Christians in the US are blindly follow a book, rather than listen to their hearts and think with their brains. Is violecence toward another group a way of Christianity? Thanks GOD, the laws are separated from the Churches and we can prosecute the lunatics if they act stupid. That's the separation of chruch and states. Do you want your children listen to sermons like those all the time? One day, they might do something stupid by killing others in the name of regliion? There are too many misguided young people out there with guns already. STOP IT NOW!
BCW – you don't get it. These nutjobs ARE listening to what passes for their hearts, and thinking with the lone brain cell that passes for their brains. If you can call that thinking. The biblical quotations are just an attempt to seek validation for their hateful thoughts, rather than guidance. Even the devil quoted scripture – as marked in scripture!
This is why I don't care to go to heaven, because narrow minded people like him will be there.
Blaspheme is certainly a good way to get your wish, although the preacher certainly hasn't secured a pass through the pearl gate, that is if we read the same bible. I guess your worse nightmare would be roasting along side the preacher, huh?
Narrow minded people only THINK they're going to heaven.
...who says he'll be there? I believe one of the Commandments reads: "Thou shall not kill".
I have a better idea. Let's get rid of all these backwater hicks first – put THEM behind an electric fence and keep them from breeding. It might get rid of a lot of hatred and polarization, not to mention all the rural leeches subsisting off the urban economy.
ooops! there goes those southern "red" states
[ not to mention all the rural leeches subsisting off the urban economy. ]................. OK urban boy, think about that when you run out of food provided by the rural leaches that work from dawn till dark .....
The only thing I can say is this guy is gay!!! Most gay bashers with high intensity and themselves gay!!! It,s called reverse psychology.
If "gay bashers" are really gay because of "reverse psychology", does that mean that white racist like George Zimmerman are really Black or want to be Black?
These nuts can say whatever they want. The real problem is lack of critical thinking involved in the hoards of fellow nuts that get down and worship their god with these priests. What separates people like these from another group of wack job religious nutcases – Taliban and others? The hoards have yet to strap bombs to themselves and take their love of Jesus into action. Lets hope someone sticks them in a fenced off area before they get to that.
That's because critical thinking is the devil's work, apparently
Actually, the "Christians" have already been blowing things up. Don't you recall when it was "doing God's work" to blow-up abortion clinics? That came to a screeching halt due to the post-9/11 anti-terrorism laws. If you think these religious nutjobs aren't going to act on their hatred, you're wrong.
I am a Christian and I'm tired of seeing headlines like this on the frontpage of CNN. This in no way represents what the vast majority of Christians believe. We repudiate such hateful language as this, even if we do not support gay marriage. When major media outlets such as CNN continually give these minority voices such high profile, most readers think this is what most Christians believe. CNN I beg of you to stop giving such minority opinions so much attention, and using such inflammatory headlines.
Try supporting liberty for all like it says in the pledge of allegiance. Let your religious beliefs govern your life alone.
You guys should be more vocal then, and denounce people like this
You're right , but now you know how Muslims feel. The biggest threat to mankind is religious extremism in ALL forms. Islam, Christianity etc etc.
Ben, I don't mean to be rude, but I will tell you what so Christians many tell Muslims in regard to Islamic terrorism; be vocal, repudiate hatred, reject these nitwits always, not just occasionally on a CNN board, but in your everyday life. That does seem to be what you are doing, but silence in the face of this is inexcusable for a follower of Jesus.
Exactly, Ben. I've noticed CNN making these very minority crazy-talk voices represent Christianity as a whole. This piece is obviously intended to stir up disgust with Christian pastors, and you can see it's working when you read people's responses written on this page. Just a couple weeks ago, CNN put an article on the FRONT PAGE discussing Christians' inferior brains that are more likely to develop dementia. PLEASE! CNN is just as guilty of slanted "news" as the FOX wackos are. So disappointing.
couldn't agree more. but let's expand your thinking to realize that this is how we Americans are programmed to view the muslim religion. it doesn't feel so good for you to be lumped in with these nutjobs, huh? now you are walking a few inches in the shoes of the majority of the muslim world....
Religious idiocy like this is far more widespread than you folks admit.
In North Carolina, Amendment 1 – that legalized discrimination and hate against gay folks passed with 61% of the vote.
In Mississippi half of all republicans said interracial marriage should be illegal. And 52% said President Obama is a Muslim.
I couldn't agree more Ben Pun
Hitler lives!
Drew, they should place ring in your nose so you can be led around and not have to think
God, don't you think liberal-media-conspiracy-theories are a little passe?