The Bishop and the Butterfly: Murder, Politics, and the End of the Jazz Age
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    Hatred in a Lovely Church

    By Ramona on Tue, 05/22/2012 - 12:10pm | Politics, Social Justice, Religion

     As I watched that hideous video showing Pastor Charles Worley's recent headline-grabbing rants about penning gays and lesbians inside miles-long electrified corrals until they die, I couldn't help but notice his surroundings. (Okay, go and watch it if you haven't seen it.  But then come back and we'll talk.)

    He preaches his particular style of self-righteous, good ol' boy hate from the pulpit of the Providence Road Baptist Church in Maiden, NC.  This is not a store-front or a rustic, backwoods building, it's a beautiful traditional church, obviously designed and built with the prospect of honoring the Christian God.


    If you could turn off the sound and watch this man Worley as he clutches his bible and moves around his pulpit, you might be lulled into thinking you were watching a man of God preaching in God's house.  No such thing exists in that building posing as a church.
     

     

    Picture a wedding in that space (a wedding between straight white adults, of course--signs of intelligence apparently not required), a baptism (poor baby), a funeral (I'm not going there).  Many loving hands keep that interior pristine and lovely.  Deep pockets provide the heavy-duty funding necessary to keep the building maintained.  All so that their chosen pastor can step to the front on a Sunday morning and propose a final solution for lesbians and gays.

    A group called the Catawba Valley Citizens against Hate is planning a peaceful protest at Providence Road Baptist on Sunday, May 27.  They're trying to organize the rally on Facebook and I'm trying to help them by posting the link here.  (Please pass it on.)

    This is how those good people want it to go: 

    Reminder: This event is a peaceful protest organized in the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King and Gandhi. All participants of this direct action must vow to remain peaceful and non-violent. We will not scream, shout or taunt Pastor Worley or his church's members. We will not vandalize, threaten or injury property or persons. We will allow law enforcement to handle harassment and disputes that may arise. Protest Peace Keepers will be in charge and will provide instructions. If you cannot vow to remain peaceful & non-violent, then this event may not be for you.

    If you're going to be anywhere near that area in North Carolina, please help them out.  Huge crowds of peacekeeping activists would be great, but if you can't get there (as most of us can't) let's show our support by visiting their Facebook page to cheer them on. 

     (By the way, please don't confuse the Providence Road Church with the Providence Baptist Church in Charlotte, NC.  They don't like that.  With good reason.)

    (Cross-posted at Ramona's Voices)

    Topics: 
    Politics
    Social Justice
    Religion

    Comments

    If you watched this on CNN, I do hope you stayed with the video to hear Anderson Cooper's guest (also a pastor) comment about how this rant was directly opposed to the most important Christian values of love, acceptance, and humility; and was opposed to the American Constitutional values of tolerance and equality.


    by The Decider on Tue, 05/22/2012 - 12:22pm

    I've heard many pastors disavow any Christian motives behind this rant.  Good for them.  And good for anyone who is willing to speak out against using a church to promote this kind of hate.


    by Ramona on Tue, 05/22/2012 - 1:02pm

    Here's the CNN link.


    by Verified Atheist on Wed, 05/23/2012 - 8:29am

    Thanks for posting this, hopefully this event will provide some awareness and counter the hate.  


    by Aunt Sam on Tue, 05/22/2012 - 12:23pm

    I hope so, too, Aunt Sam.  It's about all we can do with that kind of ignorance.  We know going in we're not dealing with reasonable people.


    by Ramona on Tue, 05/22/2012 - 1:06pm

    One might compare his example to that of Hitler's....his congregates should be ashamed to be in the same room as him....unless they're all ass backwards!


    by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/22/2012 - 12:39pm

    Apparently they are, Anon.  I forgot to mention that I tried to link to their website and it's gone now, but I doubt if that means they're ashamed of themselves.


    by Ramona on Tue, 05/22/2012 - 1:03pm

    Perhaps NC should just give out an award to who was the most responsible in passing Amendment 1, as it appears all NC 'holy' people seems to be jousting for the position.  As someone from outside of your area (and sympathetic to your revulsion), I'm not fooled.  The chorus of 'Amens' in that video is a testament to what kind of religious people your state enables and gives credence to.  Unfortunately, it is the company you keep.


    by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 05/22/2012 - 7:12pm

    I finally steeled up my nerve to watch it, and looking behind him, I thought of this. I mean seriously, where's the choir? OK, I know sometimes choirs leave after singing, but that's usually the exception, especially for what would appear to be as large a choir as you'd expect a church of that size to have…


    by Verified Atheist on Wed, 05/23/2012 - 8:22am

    What stuck out for me in the rant was Worley's assertion that, upon fencing in the gays and dropping food in their pens, eventually they would die out because--you know--they have no way to reproduce...  It offered a glimpse into the lore of homosexuality that, I guess, circulates in places like Providence Road Church. 

    The next day Steve King compared immigrants to dogs, who--of course--are known to breed, which is a problem electrified fences can't control either.

    It's almost poignant how clueless they are.  Or how poorly their mythology accounts for the ways gays and lesbians are actually spawned, as it were spontaneously :)


    by arc400 on Wed, 05/23/2012 - 9:07pm

    Here's a new Church video that you might want to share with your friends.

    Do you think it's perfectly fine and deserving of Church applause? 
     
    - or does it send a chill down your spine? 
     

    Yes, Jesus doesn't love me! ...for their parents tell them so!
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WE7COD_h2ak


    by SockyMonky on Thu, 05/24/2012 - 11:09am

    Egads, that's revolting! Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse… (yeah, I know there's even worse things out there)


    by Verified Atheist on Fri, 05/25/2012 - 11:48am

    That's plain UGLY.  And child abuse besides.  I wish those people would stop calling their hate pits "churches".


    by Ramona on Fri, 05/25/2012 - 1:50pm

    This reminds me of old pix with little tots dressed up at a Klan rally!


    by Richard Day on Sat, 05/26/2012 - 11:09am