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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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Nah, they don't teach hate. They teach ignorance, divisiveness and intolerance. Religion is a disease fostered by dumb people for dumb people.
They teach morality. That seems to make you angry. Why?
They think they can define their bigotry and intolerance as morality, but their gay Jesus will laugh at them once they die.
Who says I'm angry? I laughing at those fools in church. Pathetic sacks of brainless meat.
yes!
i believed in god when i was a kid, but i also believed in santa claus and the tooth fairy...
"They teach morality. That seems to make you angry. Why?"
That's why many Christians have been on the wrong side of morality when it comes to civil rights and people had to fight for those rights and prove those Christians wrong. LOL!
No difference between Taliban and the Evangelical Christians- not a bit of difference. The intent us the same- world domination.
Bible law, baby.
"We don't teach hate" Instead of teaching the kid the proper way not to discriminate, you have fun with it. Your group is atrocious.
Jesus if he was , was most likely not white because he was born on the continent of Asia at Asia Minor . Syria is there too !
He could have been black. But he was definitely Jewish and gay.
These "Christians" who keep making hateful, even violent statements against gays (see the NC preacher who wants them put behind a fence to die out) are simply cherry-picking he Bible. They are using the Old Testament to justify their bigotry and hatred. Yet Christianity is not based on the Old Testament, it is based on the New Covenant that Christ brought to the world, which refuted much of the Old Covenant. He taught "love one another", not this vitriolic hatred coming out of the pulpits of some of the Fundie Churches.
Using God as a weapon to justify one's own intolerance is a dangerous thing, both to those who are using it, and to those who are the object of such hatred. I personally don't believe that Christ looks too kindly upon those who are spreading hatred and bigotry in His name.
I agree...but...my concern with the new covenant is: so God made an oopsie with the old testament and brought in the new as a do-overr? I thought He was perfect in every way.
You should all be concerned about the media trying to influence what any religion is teaching. They are telling who is going to heaven. So what? That is what all religions teach. When the media tries to influence a church's belief interpreting the Bible and who they believe is going to heaven, America is being influenced by PURE PROPAGSNDA and we have lost our freedom of religion and speech. Some of these churches should sue CNN...
CNN SUX
So does religion. We're even.
Joe, enough with the s3x talk. Go out and find someone to relieve the pressure.
Lots of anti-religious bigotry and hate going on in here. It seems people aren't so much opposed to bigotry as they are opposed to other kinds of bigotry than their own. What hypocrites.
I'm opposed to hate-filled nitwits who wrap themselves up in religious blather and then want a tax break for their churches.
Just curiouos, there is a Youtube video of a gay man yelling equally hateful things outside this church. Why is that not its own story on CNN or even mentioned in this story (along with the threats to burn the church down)?
It's only what you boys deserve.
Religion = Intolerance
Not all religions. But definitely the Christ cults.
We don't teach hate. We teach intolerance and bigotry, there is a difference you know !
Actually they teach morality. The fact that you can't recognize that says a lot about you.
Exactly. They are twisted hate-filled people who insult the gay Jesus they worship.
The only morality lesson from church, God and the Bible I subscribe to is the Ten Commandments. Everything else is pure BS.
Lew: Thanks for the pointer. You are obviously way ahead of everyone else on this topic of morals. What is moral about condemnation? Don't you feel like it is right for God to judge the moral value of someone's behavior and, as a child of God you should live your life in a morally righteous way ? If you can judge someone else, then you are usurping Gods power and duty. You should concentrate on your own moral values.
It's amazing how similar this is to other forms of indoctrination. Everyone has the right to teach their children their beliefs, but Christianity isn't about either hate or exclusion, and it sickens me to see it twisted in this way. It's somewhat reminiscent of the KKK.
Everyone's worried about where our tax dollars are going and yet we allow these @##holes to get a tax break?
Not this church, not any of them. It's a violation of the first amendment.
Top Ten Signs You're a Christian
10 – You vigorously deny the existence of thousands of gods claimed by other religions, but feel outraged when someone denies the existence of yours.
9 – You feel insulted and "dehumanized" when scientists say that people evolved from other life forms, but you have no problem with the Biblical claim that we were created from dirt.
8 – You laugh at polytheists, but you have no problem believing in a Triune God.
7 – Your face turns purple when you hear of the "atrocities" attributed to Allah, but you don't even flinch when hearing about how God/Jehovah slaughtered all the babies of Egypt in "Exodus" and ordered the elimination of entire ethnic groups in "Joshua" including women, children, and trees!
6 – You laugh at Hindu beliefs that deify humans, and Greek claims about gods sleeping with women, but you have no problem believing that the Holy Spirit impregnated Mary, who then gave birth to a man-god who got killed, came back to life and then ascended into the sky.
5 – You are willing to spend your life looking for little loopholes in the scientifically established age of Earth (few billion years), but you find nothing wrong with believing dates recorded by Bronze Age tribesmen sitting in their tents and guessing that Earth is a few generations old.
4 – You believe that the entire population of this planet with the exception of those who share your beliefs – though excluding those in all rival sects – will spend Eternity in an infinite Hell of Suffering. And yet consider your religion the most "tolerant" and "loving."
3 – While modern science, history, geology, biology, and physics have failed to convince you otherwise, some idiot rolling around on the floor speaking in "tongues" may be all the evidence you need to "prove" Christianity.
2 – You define 0.01% as a "high success rate" when it comes to answered prayers. You consider that to be evidence that prayer works. And you think that the remaining 99.99% FAILURE was simply the will of God.
1 – You actually know a lot less than many atheists and agnostics do about the Bible, Christianity, and church history – but still call yourself a Christian.
Amen, brother. Preach on.... TESTIFY!
You need to add how the early church wasn't much impressed with the real Jesus so they stole the story of Horus and then claimed that the devil had pre-plagiarized the story of Jesus.
@ it's a cult. At my sister's behest, I read the archeology proof page in her BAC bible. It showed a photo of Absolom's temple, an odd little building with conical dome and ionic columns flanking the doorway. The writer described how it was built by David's son Absolom, who thought he was fairest in the land, but had no wife or children. The writer went on to state the the temple was built in 1000 BC in a "pre-cognitive Greek architectural style". Of course, independent reviewers place it at 100 CE, concurrent with Roman smorgasbord architecture. I did not have the heart to hurt my sister by pointing out such obvious trivia. It is a cruel thing to destroy faith through logic, for it requires the adoption of responsibility, a heavy load which the faithful are unwilling to accept.
i love this list! i would post it as my facebook status, but i don't want my grandparents to cut me out of their will...
Oh, that's a neat trick. The degenerates in our country have decided to rename "having morals" "hate." By that sleight of hand, they have made having morals a bad thing. That is usually how liberals argue, not by presenting facts or logical arguments, but by changing labels.
You cultists may think that morality and hate go hand in hand, but only in your twisted minds.
@It's a cult, nah, it's just a cheap relabeling trick by the liberals.
Checked Wikipedia. The USA accounts for only 5% of the world's population, at 313 million people. (Five percent). Of that number, 75% affiliate with a religion.
In the most recent survey of USA citizens who affiliate with a religion, approximately 10% stated that religion was "THE MOST IMPORTANT ASPECT OF THEIR LIVES." That means that only .4% (point 4 percent) of the world's population could conceivably be in the same camp as The Sunday Fundies. That camp also would include rabid fundamentalists hassidic, muslim, mormon, etc.
So imagine the graph: less than .4% of the world's population. That's four people in a thousand, (and you could easily dismiss one to account for the hassidic/mormon/muslim factor) who have a BAC fixation on some kind of "salvation/eternal reward/afterlife in heaven".
Believing that you possess a Truth that allows you to scorn others who have no reason to notice you is abject selfishness. You are only .4%, four in one thousand, never ever to convert the world to your way of thinking, especially with the wonders of the Internet in place. You are being exposed by a brilliant light for the cancer that you are, and bit by bit (bite by bite – or should I say byte by byte), you will be erased from the face of the Earth as barbaric throw-backs to a time when man didn't even know why he itched.
I am not a degenerate. I am a tax-paying citizen of this country. I am a loving fiancee, daughter, sister, and aunt. So is my partner. We have a loving, respectful relationship with each other, with our families, and with God. I work full-time, have little debt, and am financially responsible. I am part of a wider community, both religious and secular, and I contribute to both communities with my time, effort, and my donations (both monetary and non-monetary). I follow the law, do the best I can to treat everyone with respect and kindness, and I celebrate life and joy.
There is nothing degenerate about me, my partner, or our families.
Seriously? What is the news here? Its not there fault... these people living in Indiana... it would be news if they stopped behaving like this.. Come on... leave these back woods people alone..
JON> I live in the backwoods of KY. I do NOT feel that way. I support gay marriage, and I am a Christian. I have gay friends. I have even walked out of a church with my children for this kind of hate filled message. There are dumba**es where ever you live. Don't pick on the south. I'm not inbred. I have a high school diploma, a BA, and 2 AS degrees. Just an FYI for you....
The Bible is a flawed book, written by men, and you reinterpreting it over and over to justify your hate for others isn't helping anyone get into heaven.
Religion throughout history has done little more than caused hate . I was brought up catholic and it was always us and then them people in the public school . I did not know or talk to a person of color until I had left grade school . No black people at that time were allowed to enroll in my grade school . You will not ever see a pope of color besides white . The bible was written 300 years after Jesus was born and the bible like all books was written by people . From a former altar boy .
I HOPE ALL YOU GAYS GET AIDS AND RECTAL CANCER AND SUFFER THE REST OF YOUR PATHETIC LIVES.....AHHAHAHHAH
JOe, were you the little boy singing in the video? What's the matter, did the pastor fon'dle you after the service and you liked it too much? Is that why you're so mad?
Just for your info aids does not know if you are straight or gay and aids was found in monkeys in Africa back in the early 1900,s . False information can cause a person their life . Use your computer to look it up for yourself .
Troll=Ignore
Only an uneducated moron would make a statement like that. Ignorant hillbilly.
A lot of big ugly words for a 2nd grade education. Did you mommy and daddy help you ?
Romans 1:32 They know God's justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them, too.
Deserve to die!?!? Some righteous God.
Endeed He is.