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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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I can' t believe that nutjobs like this pastor still quote the Bible as their reference and rational for discriminating against gays (or calling for the government to kill them)– the same book that tells us such priceless words of wisdom such as:
Thus saith the LORD of hosts ... go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not; but slay both man and woman, infant and suckling, ox and sheep, camel and ass. 1 Samuel 15:2-3
Lev.21:17-23
Whosoever ... hath any blemish, let him not approach to offer the bread of his God. For whatsoever man he be that hath a blemish, he shall not approach: a blind man, or a lame, or he that hath a flat nose, or any thing superfluous, Or a man that is brokenfooted, or brokenhanded, Or crookbackt, or a dwarf, or that hath a blemish in his eye, or be scurvy, or scabbed, or hath his stones broken; No man that hath a blemish of the seed of Aaron the priest shall come nigh to offer the offerings of the LORD made by fire: he hath a blemish; he shall not come nigh to offer the bread of his God. ... Only he shall not go in unto the vail, nor come nigh unto the altar, because he hath a blemish; that he profane not my sanctuaries.
Exodus 21:20-21
And if a man smite his servant, or his maid, with a rod, and he die under his hand; he shall be surely punished. Notwithstanding, if he continue a day or two, he shall not be punished: for he is his money.
Ironic that the bible also teaches that adultery is a sin and I should think a much more common one. Should we kill, imprison or even legislate against that? I am a Christian but what I consider moral or immoral applies to me; I can't insist anyone else live by my morals any more than I would want someone else to force their morals on me. People like this pastor are misguided, dangerous, and clearly not true Christians.
Those speaking in the article are not true Christians. There is no forgiveness in their hearts. They sound more like the Nazis from WWII in respect to the Jews.
The notion that gays need forgiveness from some invisible marauder in the sky is equalling as demeaning and ridiculous...
Forgiveness is only for those who repent. And ho-mos-exuals have yet to repent.
"Forgiveness is only for those who repent. And ho-mos-exuals have yet to repent."
And again, what if gay people feel that they have no need to "repent" or feel guilty for being who they are? The notion that they have to repent anything is ridiculous.
Religion is the root of all evil because these whack-jobs feel they need to force their beliefs on everybody else. All the wars over religion are ludicrous.
Do you really that some dude named Noah built an ark and loaded it up with two of every creature on earth? Get real.....fairy tales! Get a brain and question things.
If you want to believe in something then fine but don't push your ideas on other people.
Bible banging weirdos!
Since when is a baptist preaching literal adherence to the old covenant??
Complete lteral adherence to Leviticus would require Mr. Worley to adhere to all kinds of Jewish traditions, many of them ancient and no longer observed by any jews anywhere. He'd be forbidden from harvesting the corners of a field, eating fruit from a young tree, cross-breeding livestock, shaving his beard, getting a hair cut, charging interest on a loan, wearing blended textiles or eating shrimp.
Dude, you're probably subject to the death penalty a few times over if failure to adhere to a literal read of the Torah is your measure. Good thing for you that Jesus preached love and forgiceness instead.
This is why Churches get burned down.
Atheists and gays don't burn down churches.
Why does CNN call this man a Christian? He is not. Neither are any of those hateful people who follow his satanic edicts or are sympathetic in the least to his ideas. The ones who should be killed are the preachers who spout this incitement to violence. Let THEM languish behind an electric fence until they die. They can't reproduce either – they have no cohones.
Christianity is full of hate..Jesus Christ = hate...crack open a bible for once in your life.
CNN calls him a christian because he IS a christian. You may not like the kind of christian he is, but he still is one.
THIS GUY IS NOT CHRISTIAN!! CNN STOP THE IRRESPONSIBLE JOURNALISM.!!
Well, you may not consider him a Christian because he invites disdain and shame on your belief system, but the Bible itself states that gay people should be executed, and your very own god supposedly caused a flaming pillar to come down on Sodom. Christians who wisely choose to distance themselves from the Bronze-Aged violence of the Bible must do so by going against what the very book says.
This so-called pastor is truly just doing the devil's work. no true Christian would ever let such trash exit their lips.
In Matthew 5:17-19 Christ makes it very clear that all 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.
According to Jesus, to this day, Christians must not eat pork, wear blended cloth, should murder gays and non-virgin brides, stone their disobedient children and women must marry their rapists.
"In Matthew 5:17-19 Christ makes it very clear that all Mosaic Law is to be upheld."
No it doesn't it's a was a a ritual manual for Israel's priests.. So are you going to tell women now they have to marry their rapists and all the other sins listed in that particular scriptures? Duh!
I'm a life-long atheist and the child of atheist parents so I'm not particularly schooled on Christianity but doesn't Leviticus also say you're not supposed to cut your hair? And I notice Mr. Knapp has short hair, soooo....
Also, uhm, he said he did NOT hope gay people would be put to death yet he said the government SHOULD kill them, but won't. I'm confused. Does he want them dead or not? Either way, I agree with what almost everyone else is saying and they're right – He's just another jackwagon bigot who got himself on the news by way of extreme hate and ignorance. Way to go, dude. Hope you made Jesus proud.
What a surprise. The words and thoughts of a baptist minister quoting that book again. It's scary to think these people still exist in the year 2012. Wait, no it's not! These loons are a dime a dozen spreading their hate, misunderstanding and ignorance. I have to stop before I have thoughts of killing the likes of these buffoons.
I HAVE JUST ONE MORE THING TO SAY I BET THIS GUY CAN TOUCH HIS TOES,THAT"S RIGHT I SAID T O U C H HIS T O E S..JUST DROP A 100.00 BILL AND TELL HIM TO PICK IT UP.
Like the Ayatollahs in Iran, men who use religious faith as a weapon to harm others are evil.
What is your basis for deciding evil? Mine is the Bible. And the Bible is quite clear on ho-mos-exuality.
What is your basis for deciding evil? Mine is the Bible. And the Bible is quite clear on ho-mos-exuality. Try reading it sometime.
My basis for judging what is evil is called COMMON $@#!$ING SENSE.
simple.. if you do something that hurts others – physically or mentally, it is evil.. can't you deduce that by yourself? do you need a 2000 yr old goat herders handbook to tell you that?
"And the Bible is quite clear on ho-mos-exuality."
No it's not. Nowhere in your bible does your god condemn the saved loving long term relationship of a gay couple. If it was so clear then why to so many other pastors now state that being gay is NOT a sin as we know it today. Duh! The experts today have shown that being gay is NOT a choice, it's not a mental illness, and it can't be voluntarily changed. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Counseling Association, the American Psychiatric Association, the American Psychological Association, the American School Counselor Association, the National Association of School Psychologists, and the National Association of SocialWorkers, together representing more than 480,000 mental health professionals, have all taken the position that homosexuality is not a mental disorder and thus is not something that needs to or can be “cured."
Evangelical: As always you fail! Using a 2000 year old book shows your lack of ability of think for yourself...here are some facts for you that are based in the last decade and prove you wrong (I understand you will attempt to deny them but they make more sense than your personal bigotry and delusions). You need to seek medical attention for your mental health issue, you are clearly a hateful bigoted person.
http://livinglifewithoutanet.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/what-does-science-say-about-gay-relationships/
"The belief that hom.os.exuality is abnormal and unhealthy is prevalent in the Christian community, and is the foundation of a great deal of Christian bigotry. For the time being, however, bigotry is not enough justification to subvert the consti.tution. Throughout the ongoing debate over the definition of marriage, Right Wing bigots have cited the damage caused by hom.ose.xuality and hom.os.exual relationships in an attempt to justify legal discrimination against gays.The scientific evidence on the matter is out there. (It has been for many years.) Had we simply trusted evidence years ago, there would be no more debate — at least no debate worth taking seriously. Sadly, very few people are aware of the evidence, and wouldn’t know where to find it if they wanted to look. This article presents some of the most compelling conclusions from recent scientific studies.
Children of Gays: One of the most common accusations is that children of gay parents are more likely to suffer developmentally, more likely to become gay, or more likely to have emotional problems. In 1996, Mike Allen and Nancy Burrell published a peer reviewed study on the subject. They found the following: ”The results demonstrate no differences on any measures between the heteros.exual and hom.ose.xual parents regarding parenting styles, emotional adjustment, and se.xual orientation of the child(ren). In other words, the data fail to support the continuation of a bias against hom.ose.xual parents by any court.” (The full text is available through PsychNet if you’d like to read it. There is a modest fee for membership.)In 2006, Gregory Herek replicated the conclusions: ”The data indicate that same-se.x and heter.ose.xual relationships do not differ in their essential psychosocial dimensions; that a parent’s se.xual orientation is unrelated to her or his ability to provide a healthy and nurturing family environment.” (Also available through PsychNet.) In 2001, Judith Stacey and Timothy Biblarz discovered something rather startling. While children of gay and lesbian parents don’t “become gay” any more than children of heterose.xuals, daughters of lesbian couples do display one very different behavior: They play better with male children and have more gender-neutral views of society. (Isn’t that what we want? For women to choose their own destinies sans gender impositions?) “53 percent (16 out of 30) of the daughters of lesbians aspired to careers such as doctor, lawyer, engineer, and astronaut, compared with only 21 percent (6 of 28) of the daughters of heterose.xual mothers.”Overall, Stacey and Biblarz found that “Lesbigay parents and their children in these studies display no differences from heteros.exual counterparts in psychological well-being or cognitive functioning.”
Adult Gay Relationships: Failing to prove that children are harmed by having gay parents, many Christian bigots will go on to claim that ho.mose.xual relationships are “inherently” less stable, less emotionally fulfilling, and psychologically damaging. This claim is also contradicted by the evidence.A 2003 empirical study by Gottman, et al, of the interaction between heter.os.exual and ho.mose.xual couples found that “same-s.ex couples actually demonstrated more positive (and fewer negative) behaviors during their interactions than did married couples.” The 2003 study had a small sample, so Roissman, et al, conducted a more thorough and broader series of studies in 2008. They found “individuals in committed same-se.x relationships were generally not distinguishable from their committed heterose.xual counterparts, with one exception–lesbians were especially effective at working together harmoniously in laboratory observations.”Empirical evidence for actual levels of infidelity in either hete.rose.xuals or ho.mose.xuals is very difficult to come by. Varying cultural and ethnic definitions, self-reporting bias, and social concerns have rendered the body of evidence difficult to interpret. At best. There is no data available for divorce rates among gays — since gay marriage has never been allowed in the U.S. However, it’s important to note that there are no reliable studies linking hom.ose.xuality with higher levels of relationship infidelity.Recent publications have questioned the reality of monogamy as a historical tradition. In The Myth of Monogamy, Barash and Lipton present a compelling (and cross-disciplinary) argument that heteros.exual couples have never been paragons of fidelity to begin with. In other words, it appears that lots of people — both gay and straight — cheat. The Roissman study backed up this conclusion with the observation that both gay and straight couples’ relationship satisfaction was based more on non-se.xual factors like parental support and modeling. Not se.xual orientation.In short, the arguments from the Christian bigots fail. They do not reflect reality, but rather a religious ideological agenda. There is no evidence whatsoever that gays are inherently less healthy, happy, or faithful than straights. There is no evidence that children of gays suffer any harm. In fact, there’s reasonable evidence that children of lesbians are more socially accepting and well adjusted — especially girls."
Can someone please tell me why these podunk town pastors are making front page on CNN's website (and on their television broadcasts), while Louis Farrakhan and his views on gays continue to get a free pass?
Because it's Christianity and religion in general that promotes irrational and idiotic behavior and it's been in the news lately. Simple.
Because it's nut cases like this that are fueling the unfounded hatred and bigotry towards this minority group. It's time for real Americans to step up and condemn this type of behavior. The sad part is the impact it has on the children, those that now think it's OK to kill gay people or bully them and the children sitting there knowing they're gay but will now be to afraid to talk about it.
Sometimes I just want to leave this POS Christian $#!$ing idiot country. Bunch of washed up Christian has-been $#@%ing morons. Anybody still believing that there is ANY truth in the Bible whatsoever is either brainwashed or $#$%ing retarded. How can you even buy that @$!% nowadays. What a joke.
Seriously, if you are $#%@ing stupid enough to believe the Bible your vote should count like 1/10 of someone who bases their political and social beliefs on actual $#@$ing reality.
Then leave, you moron. Not all Christians share these asinine beliefs.
All Christians actually believe that somebody rose from the dead. What the $!#$ is that? How are you qualified to make RATIONAL decisions when you believe something like that? Seriously Jay think it through.
Oh and that woman came from one of man's ribs. Wow, that's really scientific there, that must have been true. Good one. Anything else you want to share with us from your Bible of Truth Jay? Come on, I'm dying to hear some of knee-slappers.
Jay sez:
Not all Christians share these asinine beliefs
Typical "No true Scottsman" arguement
Additionally, I can tell that "not all Christians share these asinine beliefes" by the hords of Christians protesting this pastor/sarcasm/. And the hords here critisizing this pastor/sarcasm/.
Even YOU Jay are guilty of colaboration.
In the post above you don't critisize the pastor ... you deflect and ask why Louis Farakahn gets a free pass.
Xtians are useless, frightend cowards.
The Bible is quite clear that the punishment for ho-mos-exuality is death.
In Matthew 5:17-19 Christ makes it very clear that all Mosaic Law is to be upheld.
According to Jesus, to this day, Christians must not eat pork, wear blended cloth, should murder gays and non-virgin brides, stone their disobedient children and women must marry their rapists.
It also says in Leviticus that if you get tattoos or eat pork you will go to hell.
And in the same book it says sorcerers and witches should be put to death, too. Do you even believe there are such things as sorcerers and witches? There aren't and the fact that Leviticus talks about them impeaches the book's entire credibility. It's nothing more than the ravings of ignorant, ancient men.
Why do you pick and choose the verses that you want to believe? why won't you follow the whole book? answer that and we can talk
Evangelical aka Bigot: Good thing we have laws that state you can't kill someone without going to jail for a very long time. Your buybull means nothing in a court of law...suck it up freakzoid, you are fighting a losing battle.
Atheists =/= Americans
Read our national motto.
E pluribus unum? Or the blatant establishment clause violation that replaced during the red scare?
And?
Nationalism and religion is for the weak people.
Keep it coming Christians. Let the whole world peer into your dark, angry, hateful hearts once and for all.
Every statement like this that you make, pushes you farther and farther back into irrelevance. This is just what I've been saying about your ugly religion all along.
Bravo!
Because these backwoods preachers speak for all Christians....jackal.
Of course you'd be happy to extinguish christianity because it goes against everything evil and inmoral that YOU stand for. Otherwise you wouldn't be so mad. You cannot undo what GOD created and YOU cannot bend or break the will of GOD.
You don't know anything about me Victor, so you can't assume I'm immoral just because I despise your religion. Your religion however, is well know the world over, and makes its morality crystal clear.
Jay, these "backwoods" preachers you speak of are the very ones trying to inject themselves and their vile beliefs into the government of my country. So I couldn't care less whether they speak for everyone. They are powerful enough to be dangerous, and that's what concerns me.
STOP BASHING CHRISTIANITY TO PROMOTE YOUR INMORAL BEHAVIOR!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh get off your high horse. Christianity deserves bashing a-plenty even by those of us who do not engage in immoral behavior. And who made YOU the arbiter of moral and immoral? Most immoral behavior is done in the name of Christianity, which is why it so richly deserves bashing. Or at least the "Christianity" being pushed this evil man who calls himself a preacher. Victor, if you were a true, faithful and good Christian you never would have made your post. But clearly you are one of these other soulless thugs. You all belong in Iran.
This guy is no Christian