 |
|
|
|
|
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.  |
|
|
|
The study of theology, as it stands in the Christian churches, is the study of nothing; it is founded on nothing; it rests on no principles; it proceeds by no authorities; it has no data; it can demonstrate nothing; and it admits of no conclusion. Not anything can be studied as a science, without our being in possession of the principles upon which it is founded; and as this is not the case with Christian theology, it is therefore the study of nothing.
Emperor Constantine, who was Roman Emperor from 306 CE until his death in 337 CE, used what motivates many to action – MONEY! He offered the various Church leaders money to agree upon a single canon that would be used by all Christians as the word of God. The Church leaders gathered together at the Council of Nicaea and voted the "word of God" into existence. The final version of the Christian Bible was not voted on at the Council of Nicaea, per se. The Church leaders didn't finish editing the "holy" scriptures until the Council of Trent when the Catholic Church pronounced the Canon closed. However, it seems the real approving editor of the Bible was not God but Constantine! "Therefore, one can easily argue that the first Christian Bible was commissioned, paid for, inspected and approved by a pagan emperor for church use.
MOMOYA
What has a sacrifice got to do with value! In your virtual time as a Minister u did not know the price of a sacrifice did u? The widow who gave her last two pieces of silver had it counted as priceless! A sacrifice is priceless. It was given in real value terms in precious metal not paper!
shut up nii, you stupid guy...deal with your own countries b-s, America doesn't need your stupid rubbing off here
There are many more Bible stories which are not good for children. The Bible is so ambiguous, it's not even clear what exactly is required for its main promise of eternal salvation, that any of the good teachings in it are rendered meaningless by the evil teachings that are in it.
Zombies are always a scare to children! In Matthew 27:52-53 we read about what can only be described as zombies or the living dead. It states, "And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." Based on this tall tale when Jesus died the "saints" arose from the dead but stayed put at their graves until about 45 hours later when Jesus came back to life and came out of his tomb. At that time they strolled into Jerusalem "and appeared unto many." No adult in his or her right mind would ever believe this Biblical lie. However, it does have much potential to frighten little children.
Children will receive a scare and a bad lesson at Luke 14:26 which claims that Jesus said, "If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren,and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple." This could only cause confusion in the minds of children (and adults) and fear that they may cause their father to lose his own life. It also sets them up to be victims of cults in addition to the cult of Christianity by belittling their gift from God of life itself; their own life! It sets up a mindset of hating your own life in order to please the religious guru. That is sick and very unnatural and ungodly.
In Matthew we see that the Bible says that Jesus said he is not only not against the unreasonable and cruel laws of the Old Testament, but that he came to fulfill them. Matthew 5:17 states that Jesus stated, "Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill." And in Matthew 15:4-6 Jesus condemns the Jews for not following the Old Testament/Torah laws which required them to kill their children if their children cursed their parents. This paints quite a different picture of Jesus than the one used on most children's' Bibles!
Moreover of the children of the strangers that do sojourn among you, of them shall ye buy, and of their families that are with you, which they begat in your land: and they shall be your possession. And ye shall take them as an inheritance for your children after you, to inherit them for a possession; they shall be your bondmen for ever: but over your brethren the children of Israel, ye shall not rule one over another with rigour. " These are sick ideas to teach children weather you're a Jew or a Gentile.
One scary thought for children would be the fear of becoming a slave for someone. The Bible teaches the Jews that they can own Gentile slaves. And the Biblical teaching specifically mentions Gentile children. Leviticus 25:44-46 reads, "Both thy bondmen, and thy bondmaids, which thou shalt have, shall be of the heathen that are round about you; of them shall ye buy bondmen and bondmaids
why didn't their church burn down?
How do you tell children that God favored one group of people "above all people that are upon the face of the earth" as Deuteronomy 7:6 claims about the Hebrews/Jews? If you're Jewish you're doing a great disservice to your children by propagating this shameful lie and giving your children a false sense of superiority. If you're a Gentile and teaching this nonsense to your child, you're filling them with a terrible inferiority complex.
The Jews are one tribe of Israel. Time to learn how many tribes of Israel also exist.
And if it be from a month old even unto five years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male five shekels of silver, and for the female thy estimation shall be three shekels of silver. And if it be from sixty years old and above; if it be a male, then thy estimation shall be fifteen shekels, and for the female ten shekels." How do you explain to innocent impressionable children that their Creator, God, has put a monetary value on them? And an extremely low one at that! And that God thinks girls are worth only about half as much as boys! Also, the Bible god does not even bother putting a value on infants younger than one month let alone on unborn babies.
Oh, yes, having a righteous man of God providing for you as you too, learn how to think, comprehend, apply righteousness in all you do is such a bad thing in your pathetic carnal viewpoint.
Not to leave little girls out, Leviticus 27:3-7 is how God lets little girls and women know they are not worth much. It reads, "And thy estimation shall be of the male from twenty years old even unto sixty years old, even thy estimation shall be fifty shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary. And if it be a female, then thy estimation shall be thirty shekels. And if it be from five years old even unto twenty years old, then thy estimation shall be of the male twenty shekels, and for the female ten shekels
"But to the wicked person, God says: “What right have you to recite my laws or take my covenant on your lips? You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you. When you see a thief, you join with him; you throw in your lot with adulterers.
You use your mouth for evil and harness your tongue to deceit. You sit and testify against your brother and slander your own mother’s son. When you did these things and I kept silent, you thought I was exactly like you. But I now arraign you
and set my accusations before you. “Consider this, you who forget God, or I will tear you to pieces, with no one to rescue you: Those who sacrifice thank offerings honor me, and to the blameless I will show my salvation." Psalm 50:16-23
The Bible god, according to 2 Kings 2:23-24, sent two bears to tear-up 42 little boys who were teasing the bald headed Hebrew "prophet" Elisha about his bald head! Will stories like this edify your children? Or will they just put fear in them?
MOMOYA how are u doing in Hatheism today? Youth is not a child but between 15 to 30 yrs. Do u know which age they were? I think not!
Nii, I know all you know! Yet ye no nothing of me.
I told u I smell a MOMOYA!
Old girl whatsup! U struggle cos u r religious in nature! Spiritual people can see beyond what u know! I am Anglican I swim in a sea of religiosity. I got tired of it n decided on spirituality. 1st rule: Love ur neighbor as thyself. If u do u'll know what I know! lol
nii...you know nothing...you a stupid guy without morals based in reality...stop trying to pretend you have a brain, you don't and you keep sticking your big fat ugly nose in America where it does not belong...doesn't ghana have some ditches that need dug by you the slug?
nii: someone has is peeing in your sea of religiosity. drink it all in
@nii: we have seen before how you love your neighbor as yourself..........you must hate yourself then. you don't believe same gender couples should have same rights as you and time and again you have shown your true colors. you are a hypocrite and until you truly accept all humans as equals, you always will be.
CQ
As an Atheist who knows the Bible better than Christians I hope u do know the difference between moral and ritual laws in the Bible. Moral laws are such that u can't go against them without feeling that u have to justify yourself. Ritual laws glorify God and they are not necessary for salvation.
Deute*ronomy 22:28-29 sanc*tions rap*ing fem*ale vir*gins.
Suppose you were a man who lusted after a certain fem*ale vir*gin who was not romantically interested in you. All you had to do, if you were an Israel*ite, was ra*pe her, pay her father some money, and then marry her. After that, you could ra*pe her every night because she would be your wife. It sounds like this rule was invented by an ugly, od*ious, and exceedingly hor*ny male Israe*lite.
Since you obviously have the brain of a pea ... community is trying to figure out who was is at fault? A young male raging with hormones ... to force r-ape upon an innocent girl? Or, young male raging in hormones being lured in and seduced by a seasoned girl who is not innocent.
If it's two young folks falling in love, a dowry was provided to the girls father in order for the young man to take her away from her family, marry her and start life together. Unlike today that some guys want to do hit and run ... hit and run. Never to pay their way through life for any of their hitting and running. Pathetic comes to mind besides vanity.
So HS thinks that selling your daughters is acceptable...just says so much about his/her pathetic morals! How many daughters have you sold HS?
He hasn't sold any, because he doesn't have any. He's never paid a dowry, either, because no woman would have him. He likes living in mommy's basement.
HS is also blaming any woman that gets r-ped. Now listen HS, just because no woman would ever touch you doesn't mean r-pe is okay you little s-cko.
I remember you Mirosal, you keep repeating yourself over and over using the same sentences in every other topics of which is about religion. It's ok if your gay, we're all getting it. No one will eat you. And you don't believe in God and that's ok, you will only get what you've been asking for when your time is done here. That should be enough to satisfy you, now just let the believers do what they want to and that's all. No need to let your gay frustrations out.
When Mirosal's time is done? He will die, nothing more...point finale...over and out...no evidence for heaven...no evidence for hell...no evidence for god...no evidence period. Atheists at least accept that we are not immortal. You live in fear of being a sinful individual who your god rejects should you not adhere to his words and so you judge others based off of what sheep herding freaks from 2000 years ago said. We base our lives off of the scientific evidence. We take our morals from the obvious...health is preferred over illness; violence of any form is wrong; equal rights for all is good regardless of who they are. Some of us are not so weak that we need an imaginary friend to help us through life.
I'm not ga'y. I have two ex-wives, 3 children and a slew of friends who would testify under oath in a court of law to that. The believers can do what they want, and so can I, to a point. I'm not the one spouting hate speech against specific groups of people, wanting to lock them up behind barbed and eletrified wire, wanting them to die off. It's this type of speech that starts wars. But when the believers start to meddle in the affairs of legitimate government and want THEIR "laws" made into civil law, that's where I draw the line. This is NOT a theocracy. You can practice what you'd like, or not practice. I don't really care. Just keep it in your church or in your home. Get OFF my porch, and GET OUT of my legislature.
Mirosal is by far not gay and even if he was, we'd respect him and treat him just the same as we do now.
I do want to add here some basic facts, the article the following is taken from is using facts from the past decade not from 2000 years ago...these facts are what matter now, not that book written by sheep herding men who probably enjoyed the company of their herd (thus the term bestiality??):
"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." (http://livinglifewithoutanet.wordpress.com/2011/07/26/what-does-science-say-about-gay-relationships/)
2 Kings 8:26
[26] Ahazi'ah was twenty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athali'ah; she was a granddaughter of Omri king of Israel.
2 Chronicles 22:2
[2] Ahazi'ah was forty-two years old when he began to reign, and he reigned one year in Jerusalem. His mother's name was Athali'ah, the granddaughter of Omri.
Just incase you religious nutbags can't figure out this discrepancy, I'll point it out for you!
2 Kings 8:26 versus 2 Chronicles 22:2
How old was Ahazi'ah when he began to reign? 2 Kings 8:26 says that Ahazi'ah was twenty-two years old, but 2 Chronicles 22:2 says that Ahazi'ah was forty-two years old.
Joshua 10:12-14
In reality, the Earth orbits the sun. In the understanding of most ancient people and, thus, in the Bible, the sun orbits the Earth. The orbit of the sun around the Earth was supposedly stopped so that the Israelites could kill their enemies.
Jesus said that he would return to Earth on a cloud in great glory and that his return would happen before that generation died. That was approximately 2,000 years ago, and all of that generation is long dead.
How do people call themselves religious, and godly. Then do the heinous things they do without puking at least a little in their own mouths?
Sorry that you weren't taught Jesus' spiritual truth how to be the best that He wants ALL of us to be. Yes, your carnal flesh would whine and complain (lies) as you learned His spiritual (truth) teachings. But, like all good students, you applied yourself and forged ahead, banged and bruised, crying with frustration as the carnal flesh lies tried to keep you pinned in to it's grasp. Step by step He guides you until His spiritual wisdom (truth) of seeing life for the first time conquered the carnal flesh (lies) that kept you blind.
@heavensent
if you think god wants you to kill any of his creations, the you're the one who is blind! And living a life of lies!
Typical carnal response of those who have no eyes to see nor ears to hear Jesus' spiritual truth. You kill yourselves as you exist carnally (satan's lies). Never to learn Jesus' wisdom (spiritual truth) how to be the best that He wants ALL of us to be. If you argued with this pastor's sermon as you thought you were listening, you have issues you need to work on in order to start learning Jesus' truth to set you free. Listen to what the man is saying. Yes, he and other pastors purposely took a dramatic stand ... DRAMA is what catches the non-believer's attention for 2 seconds. Drama and chaos. His sermon is for all non-believers who are living blindly by carnal sins of the flesh. There is more to us than human flesh. Our spirits need the food that only the teachings of Jesus provides. That's if, you have the courage to accept the challenge instead of sitting on your lazy butts in life ... just drifting, staying angry, frustrated, win/loose mentality.
Heaven Sent, you're just another in a long line of religious bigots. You think YOURS is the only way, all because a book you cannot verify says so. Are the Jews going to "hell" because they don't follow your jesus? Are the Muslims going there as well? After all, all 3 have the SAME deity. Are Hindus headed for the same fate? There are 5 billion on this planet who do NOT follow your dead jesus guy. So are all 5 bilion going to suffer eternally? Don't give me a philosophical answer. A simple yes or no based on YOUR beliefs will suffice.
Mirosal, all those other phony religions have at least 95% of Jesus' truth, sprinkled with 5% of satan's lies. What do the non-believers have? 100% of satan's lies ... as you stay spiritually stunted on the carnal flesh level ... never growing, always angry, frustrated, telling and living lies, looking for chaos to give you a second of adrenaline rush so you can feel alive for a few brief seconds.
You folks steal Jesus' truth. Call it something else. Learn the basics, never to go further to learn all Jesus' teachings ... then claim it as your own. Big deal. Win/loose mentality of the strongest survive ... but, are miserable as they slowly die every day.
Are you really THAT gullible to believe in the supernatural? You talk of "satan" and "god" ... not one person in the billions alive or have lived have EVER provided one shred of any empirical evidence of ANY so-called "god". Let me guess ... you're the type who stands in front of a store and hands out tracts to people to spread your "word", aren't you? Oh, and you STILL did not answer my question .. yes or no? Or can't you type simple words lie that? Did you ever think religion itself is the lie? And you fell for it.
Mirosal. I'm sorry I didn't simplify this for you. Jesus = spiritual truth. Satan = carnal lies. Humans = spiritual soul created by God living in carnal flesh. Carnal flesh is the first thing we know as infants looking at our parent(s) ...learning truth that they are an extension us ... to learning they are individuals as we are singular.
Jesus' teaches righteousness (truth) how to be the best that He wants us to be. Solid foundation standing on His truth.
satan teaches unrighteousness (lies) to keep you grabbing at straws, striving to jump through his hoops of life ... to reach a goal and find out it's all been a lie. Oatmeal foundation as you slowly sink with pathetic frustration.
Need I go on?
You are using double-talk to avoid answering my simple question .. are the 5 billion who do NOT follow your "truth" condemned for all eternity? .. it's a smiple yes or no. All you're doing is throwing a book in my face, and there is NO way that the book can be verified as being "true" by ANY sense of the word. Just because that book says it's "true", does NOT make it so. Is Adam and Eve a TRUEa story? Is Abraham a TRUE story? Is Noah a TRUE story? Is Moses a TRUE story? If you answer yes to those, please provide your sources.
Mirosal, learn about the day of our Lord. Those that didn't learn Jesus' truth on earth are taught His truth when their spirits are back with Him. If they still act arrogant and deny Christ ... no eternity for them.
So now you're into the whole "armageddon" thing? You think there's going to be a "rature" someday? Seek therapy.. NOW. I see you've avoided, again, my questions. Looks like your religious teachings aren't all you think they are. I was taught by Jesuits and nuns. They gave the same answers you did, and I questioned them about it 35 years ago. Double-talk and threats of a sad afterlife. There's no proof of an afterlife, there isn't even any proof your jesus guy exosted outside of your book of fantasies. Your "god" is no more real that Zeus, and he had a son as well from a mortal mother (Hercules). You'll dismiss them as myth, now you know why yours is a myth also.
Mirosal,
Vanity of vanities, saith the preacher; all [is] vanity.
Ecclesiastes 12:8
Amen.