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June 4th, 2012
05:43 PM ET
We don't teach hate, says church where anti-homosexual song filmedBy Ismael Estrada, CNN Greensburg, Indiana (CNN) - About 20 protesters gathered on Sunday outside the Apostolic Truth Tabernacle here to voice opposition to a viral online video that was taped in the church and shows a young child singing song with lyrics that offer a harsh message for homosexuals. The video, which surfaced on YouTube last week, shows a child in front of the congregation, singing "I know that God is right, and somebody's wrong... ain't no homo going to make it to heaven." The congregation erupts in applause at those lines, which the unidentified boy repeats as the pastor looks on. At another point in the video a voice is heard shouting,"That’s my boy." CNN’s Belief Blog: The faith angles behind the biggest stories In the first Sunday service since the video surfaced, congregants arrived to the church as protesters jeered them over the video. A church leader, who would not give his name, told CNN that journalists were not allowed inside the church and declined to offer anyone from church leadership to comment on the video. The leader said that he needed to be cautious about letting outsiders into the church because it had received threats over the video and asked CNN to leave the premises. Church videos with harsh words for gays go viral online The local sheriff's office said the church had not reported any verifiable threats. No one answered the door at the home of Jeff Sangl, the church's pastor. The video of the singing boy was the latest in a string of viral anti-gay videos that have surfaced from independent churches. Those videos have been resoundingly condemned by religious leaders, even by conservatives who believe homosexual sex is a sin. The Apostolic Truth Tabernacle posted a statement on its website that says in part: "The Pastor and members of Apostolic Truth Tabernacle do not condone, teach, or practice hate of any person for any reason.” The pastor's son, Josh Sangl, told CNN his father was away on vacation and that there was much more to the video than we were being told, though he wouldn’t elaborate. The majority of the church members wouldn’t comment about the controversy or respond to questions about the parents of the young boy. Follow the CNN Belief Blog on Twitter "I think it's blown out of proportion, you know," said Robert Kirby, who is not a church member but was attending Sunday's church service in support of his daughter, who teaches Sunday School there. "They love everybody. "They don't love sin though," he said. "It's all in the Bible." soundoff (3,151 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 Next »
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The CNN Belief Blog covers the faith angles of the day's biggest stories, from breaking news to politics to entertainment, fostering a global conversation about the role of religion and belief in readers' lives. It's edited by CNN's Daniel Burke with contributions from Eric Marrapodi and CNN's worldwide news gathering team.  |
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Let's not flatter ourselves. This isn't about God or not. It's about people,,,,small, frightened, ignorant people who have banded together looking for a monster to fight in order to make them feel safe and OK about themselves. They have already created their hell within their lives right here, right now. Very sad. "We don't want to imbue our children with honesty, what we want is to imbue them with our own version of dishonesty" – Sidney Harris
I'm sorry, I still find it hard to believe that a perfect God had to send his son to die so I could go to heaven. Couldn't we have skipped that part?
No. According to the bible, the god of love and peace prefers torture and death to accomplish his goals.
Sad how the Liberal media outlets put this up but when we have a President who sits in a temple of hatred, anger, revenge they say absoutely zippy. The split, the divide between Liberal idiot ideologues and true American Conservatives continues.
Good point. The problem for the GOP is that the religious nuts give CNN plenty of rope to hang them with.
LOL
Of course they don't teach hate. They just sing it!
Right. Very convincing rebuttal. "You've got to be carefully taught..."
I KNOW YOU GAYS AREN VERY SMART SO..JUST LOOK TO NATURE IF YOU ARENT SURE WHAT TO DO...DO YOU SEE WILD DOGS ,RABBITS BEARS ELEPHANTS ETC ETC BEING GAY >???NOOOOO THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RELIGION ,YOU ALL ARE JUST SICK PEOPLE AND IM TIRED OF YOU ALL TRYING TO INFLUENCE ALL OF US STRAIGHT PEOPLE AND OUR CHILDREN BY SAYING GAY IS OKAY...ITS NOT ..SO GO JUMP OFF A BRIDGE AND BE GAY ALL YOU WANT
Thank you for your considered, thoughtful response.
I think Joe is in denial, and is a self-loather. He's afraid that he's gay and doesn't know how to deal with it. Either that, or Joe is a member of that church.
"JOE" – Youre an example of what's wrong with this country: small minded, in denial, hateful, bigoted, you're probably racist and you probably have a small penis. Get over yourself and admit your true nature.
Over 400 species of mammals show incidences of it, but of course you would rather preach your hate and bigotry than actually do some real research.
Get back in your trailer Joe.
OK... I agree... being gay is not the norm. But it is better than being an hateful ignorant religious hillbilly inbred redneck sister molester. Don't you think? Oh wail... you can't think for yourself. : )
God loves the christian but hates the christianity.
This is one church and community that people might not mind gets burnt down...
time to start taxing churches aka cults or start throwing then in jail, protect the kids and stop the bigot meeting houses...
So your answer to hurtful words are violence?
THE BIGGEST CONTRIBUTION YOU GAYS HAVE MADE TO THE WORLD IS ..AIDS AND HERPES....THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!
The biggest contribution Christianity has made is hate.
you're an A$$H0L3
Wow really? That's the best you can do? You are a hateful bigot ... an ignorant one at that.
WOW! And these people are allowed to roam free, and vote??? USA #1... oh wait... not #1 anymore. Good luck to you all!
YOUR VOTE IS JUST LIKE YOU...WORTHLESS AND MEANINGLESS!!!
Wow, Joe.....what an insightful comeback
JOE... I'm really sad and hurt that I don't have as much value and meaning as you. Frankly, I rather deal with 1000 AIDS and HERPES ridden gays, than one of your kind. : D
Over 400 species of mammals show incidences of it, but of course you would rather preach your hate and bigotry than actually do some research.
He might as well be singing this about anyone that has lied, stolen, fornicated, been mean, cheated someone or committed any other sin. We don't get to heaven by our sins. We are allowed entrance into heaven by trusting Jesus as Our Savior. As the Bible say all have fallen short of the glory of God meaning it's not our good works that get us there. It is thru His grace we are saved. The fact is, as the Bible say, We are all sinners!
You seem to have an issue confusing fact with opinion
Even Jesus was gay, and most of his story was cribbed from an Egyptian god. Worship him if you like but it won't make any difference.
This just shows that there is something missing with these individuals. Religion and people with less than average intelligence is a dangerous combination.
I just reread John 3:16 and I could not find an exceptions verse to the whosoever believeth in him
THIS CHURCH MAY NOT HATE GAYS BUT GOD DOES
You are a pathetic bigot.
God's not too fond of christians right now either; He told me so.
Shame on you. God is love.
Your Invisible Sky Daddy also supposedly has a problem with people who cast judgment on others.
Churches preaching hate–Daaaa. Ever heard of being burned at the stake. Churches are factories of irrational, often virulent, beliefs. "Liberals" were killed in a church just because of irrational thinking and doctors are killed and irrational believers celebrate. Sing your songs to us "unchurched" you true believers. You think you are holier than though, but your are not.
It's really sad how children are indoctrinated from an early age to mindlessly accept ancient mythology and ignorant superst!tious nonsense as fact. When will people wake up to reality and stop believing in fairy tales?
Typical, hate to say this but I grew up in this environment, and now my family still has feelings that would align very close to this. I consider myself a christian, but I do not agree with anything on the video, God loves, not hates.
They don't teach hate.....they ARE hate...
Apparently they don't believe in living by the Commandments either, most notably "Thou Shalt Not Bear False Witness," cuz these people are liars.
This is child abuse and should be treated as such.
Absolutely.
I agree what they are teaching is wrong, but I think people who are raising their young children as "transgender" are sick.