 |
|
|
|
|
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 »
« Previous entryBelief Blog's Morning Speed Read for Thursday, May 31
|
  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.  |
|
|
|
We shouldn't kill gays, but we need to pray that they turn from their depravity.
BIGOT!!
Why should they turn from something Christ called the greatest faith in all of Israel.
I missed that part in the bible where Jesus preached, "Hate thy neighbor." And the part where God said, "Judge others." Or maybe the part where Jesus, "Sinners feel free to throw stones."
I would suggest banning the Bible, banning religions which are instruments of usage and manipulation. Perhaps we could erase HATRED from humans? That is impossible. we were created THUS by He Himself and hatred is a component to the human, stupid little mind. Sorry C
Wonder when people are going to figure out that the bible was written by a bunch of ordinary men?
Amen Brother...
When they put on their big-kid panties and start thinking for themselves and learn that their imaginary friend really does not exist.
The Bible was NOT written by "ordinary men"!!! It was written by a bunch of schizophrenic psychotics who thought that oppression and cruelty and totalitarianism were good ideas.
The Bible was written by a bunch of sick fukks!
J.C. was gay, 33 yrs old, no wife, no children, no girlfriend, loved 12 guys he picked out. some defunct christians are attacking jc. lifestyle.
Shameful thing to say. Unforgivable sin. You're life is cursed.
no josh...only your brainwashed head believes in curses...dogma,rapture and all that mumbo jumbo.
Oh no!!! You have been cursed over the interwebs!!!! Wait. Why does this all-loving god even HAVE a Curse button? I thought he was full of love, sunshine and rainbows. Yeah, the dude in the first book had a temper, but I thought that got fixed in Part 2 when he sent his zombie kid as himself to get executed, and later celebrate that with chocolate filled eggs on a random Sunday in March or April.
Funny how they always pick out that one thing from Laviticus in the old testament, but ignore the rest of Laviticus. They'd be among the ones condemned to death otherwise. Modern "Christians" would be amusing if they weren't so self righteous & ready to legislate all their bigotries.
Christ upheld the insane Mosaic Laws in Matthew 5:17-19.
"Christ upheld the insane Mosaic Laws in Matthew 5:17-19."
No he didn't since it is a part of the Holiness Code, 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!
The irony of it all is that the central point of the Bible is God's love for sinners like you and me, and these guys teach as if a person is gay, they are beyond the life changing power of God. That is unbelief. So these phoney preachers really have more in common with the agnostics and atheists.
Wow, please don't compare this monster to us Atheists. We're not here spewing hate and bigotry towards gay people, that would be the christians. As a matter of fact we don't hate many, just the belief especially when that belief impedes on basic human rights. What this pastor is doing is not much different than what was done by the christians during the Salem Witch Trials or the Crusades or Hitler for that matter. Atheists don't tend to start wars or harm people in the name of disbelief.
WOW
prove that you were born straight....
Bible Thumpers are funny. The ones who vehemenetly preach against gays like the this clown; inevitably turn out to be be gay themselves.
We've seen this one... over and over and over....
Because that is what Jesus will do.
The US government can neither conduct nor condone genocide. All persons are created equal. If anyone deserves death it is those who spread hate.
Lol, I suppose that executing murders is genocide then? I think you'd better look up the term "genocide." Ho-mos-exuals are crimminals in many states.
And abortion is legal in every state Evangelical. If it's legal I'm assuming you must be pro choice 🙂
"Ho-mos-exuals are crimminals in many states"
The simple state of being hom.os.exual is not illegal anywhere in the US. Same-gender marriage is not legal in all States.
“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.
So let me get this straight. He and his Church do not condone, teach, or practice hate of any person for any reason....BUT Gays should be killed by the Government.
If that doesn't make sense, I am not sure what does.....(sarcasm)
People like this are literally BLIND to any truth.
Umm ... ANYONE who believes that Jonah survived for three days in the innards of a fish or a whale for three days is a blithering idiot. You can not really expect rational thinking out of crazy people.
See this what was Christians (and any other folk religious) have done during their long and productive history. They of cause, do not condone, preach hate for other "humans". Notice the word "humans". Now, all you need to do is to define what "human" is. For example, ea some point Jewish people were not humans and this is one Spain was devoid of them for a very long time; then withes were not humans and tens of thousands were burned at stake the list goes on and on. You do not preach hate for humans, but than you redefine "humans" the way it is convenient and start preaching hate for all "non-humans".
It's not hate if it is god's command. If god tells you to kill gay people, that is his will, not your hatred.
It's twisted, I know.
A lot of Christians won't make it to Heaven either.
Yah ... Uhhh, right around 0% of them. Sorry, but the emperor is not wearing any clothes, and no one is going to a magical place in the sky after they die. You will feed worms, just like the rest of us.
This is not the way of Christianity. I don't believe in treating gays or lesbians with a prejudice mind because I do believe that being gay is just one of the sins that God despises. But to say that all gays should die is completely idiotic and has nothing to do with Christianity. There is no such thing as one sin being greater than another. The bible teaches that the only sin that cannot be forgiven is blaspheming the holy spirit.
Once again being gay is natural and there is no sin involved. Sin is only a biblical term that means nothing in any department that has any say on these matters.
For the final time, I am posting the following...hoping it opens your eyes to what the studies done i nthe last decade say on the matter:
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."
But the Bible says that if a man lies with another man, they shall surely be put to death.
Are you sure it's not the way of Christianity and you're not just in denial of what the religion is truly about??? Something tells me you don't read your bible often enough..
Let's see: one group is exercising their freedom by living life a certain way. The other group, who as far as I can tell are not impacted in any way by that choice, is preaching that they should be killed. Well, I know which group should be eliminated from the human race. HINT, it's not the gays.
Cheers, Mike!
This is how scary I country has become.....the fact that this pastor can feel so comfortable in his insane rantings is because the right wing and their attempt to social engineer now that they got some power thru their fear mongering and the tea party types is just putting us into a free fall to the dark ages of prejudice and social control we fought so many decades to evolve from.....
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.
I agree with the beating of the disobedient children ...
No shellfish either, so lay off the shrimp and crab legs.
The New Testmanent does not negate the Old Testament, rather it teaches that certain rulings no longer apply in the age of grace. That does not nullify the OT, it merely states that some rules no longer apply.
For example, the OT ruling for adultery is stoning. Yet Jesus Christ himself showed us how to act when he said "let him with no sin cast the first stone." There are many similar verses (for example the verse "it is not what goes into a man's mouth that defiles him, but rather what comes out" which shows that the deitary laws of the OT no longer apply in the age of grace) that tell us which parts of the rules in the OT no longer apply in the age of grace.
They are too stupid to realize that stuff like this turns more people against their cause.
Silly humans. God is love, and knows no sin. It is we who choose to believe in sin and make it real in this world.
Old testament scripture is to be ignored if you believe in Jesus any quotes to those books are no longer relevant to a christian tell this man to convert to Judaism.
So then the Ten Commandments are out?
Silly Christians, sin is not real. It is only a term found in the buybull and does not have any pertinence in the real world.
If you want to be a buffet Christian and tolerate gays, that's fine, but don't call it Christianity.
If you want to hate people, don't call it Christianity: call it what it is: bigotry. Hypocrite.
, I'm a stan for beta males. I almost pseasd over to the dark side after a few odd experiences with extremely lukewarm betas. After feeling puzzled and undesired, I found this straightforward alpha to be refreshing that is until I told him I wasn't coming up to his apartment and he literally threw me over his shoulder and proceeded to carry me up. Unfortunately, I'm only 105 pounds and I left my [insert whatever suits your fancy] in the car so I was helpless and when he wouldn't put me down, I started to panic *sigh*. I managed to get out of that but not without realizing that I need to stay in my lane. I melt for men who are considerate and kind and thoughtful. I always knew I wouldn't be able to stand being in a relationship with the alpha; I'd just convinced myself that I could play with fire without being burned.Now I figure I need to find a guy who's set at the right temperature for me. Just like men want a lady in the street but a freak in the bed, a lot of women want a man who will treat her well (with kindness, consideration, and respect), but who can also throw her against a wall and make her feel like a woman *shrugs*. Basically, we all want it all.
At least this preacher has put forth an idea for dealing with the problem. To all you people hating on this man: What do you suggest be done about the ho-mos-exual problem?
What makes you think it's a problem? How is the LGBT community directly affecting your life? How will them getting equal rights and protections prevent you from practicing your faith?
Ever heard of love thy neighbor?
I havent heard of a better solution to deal with them. Solutions not complaints people. The ho-mos-exual is a SERIOUS problem..I see no other option.
HawaiiGuest,
Allowing ho-mos-exuality will bring God's wrathful judgment upon us all.
How can you even dignify genocide as "at least putting forth an idea"?
@Evangelical
Then your god is an ass hat and deserves no worship (if he even exists).
LGBT is no different than the commies and Jews.
I'm calling troll on "Evangelical" now. That's just too stupid.
Clinky it is easy when you follow God
HawaiiGuest
Look at what we did with the American Indians. We wouldn't be who we are today. Yes it seems bad but it was justified in expanding this great Christian Nation. Gays are an evila nd cancer and must be dealt with.
Evangelical is obviously a paranoid schizophrenic. He / She / It suffers from religiosity and without psychotherapy and a host of anti-psychotic medications will never be a normal functioning human being. Just a hate filled creep. Ignore He / She / It until it agrees to seek treatment.
@Evangelical
Yup, definitely calling troll on you. If you're actually serious about any of this, then you need some professional psychological help. You're showing some classic signs of a sociopath.
What this pastor suggested will not stop people from being born gay! In case you missed it, gay people are born of heter.o.se.xual people, meaning that even you could end up with a child that is gay. What we do is we start sending people like you to jail for hate crimes against these people, that will stop the bigotry from spreading on the streets.
Did you completely fail to read any of the facts we have put forth on here? Are you that brainwashed and weak minded that you can't see the facts for what they are?
You're a disgrace to humanity.
Justifying the slaughter of native Americans...wow...that's all I can say....
That's why I call troll. I'm just hoping that no one is that stupid.
TROLL!
If Leviticus 20:13 provides a reason for the government (so much for small, non-intrusive government) to put another person to death, then why should the same not be true for Leviticus 20:9-12?
"9: For every one that curseth his father or his mother shall be surely put to death: he hath cursed his father or his mother; his blood shall be upon him.
10: And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
11: And the man that lieth with his father's wife hath uncovered his father's nakedness: both of them shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them.
12: And if a man lie with his daughter in law, both of them shall surely be put to death: they have wrought confusion; their blood shall be upon them.
13: If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them."
Religious freedom includes the right to be free FROM religion.
@Neaera
EXACTLY.
Mortal man cannot dictate for God. God has his reasons...you can see this in the bible. While we humans see terrible acts..it serves a greater purpose in God's plan.