FORT BASHEAR, POG--Outrage is brewing across the nation after a POG pastor denounced homosexuality and called for gays to be "eradicated" in a Sunday sermon.
The Brockhaven Post-Gazette reports that Rev. Marvin Garlo, senior pastor at Madison Creek Baptist Church in Charmingdale, was recorded calling gays and lesbians "perverts" and "deviants."
A parishioner videotaped part of the sermon on a cell phone.
During the nearly five-minute episode, Garlo declared the gay rights movement a "bold-faced lie" and "a work of evil orchestrated by Satan himself."
His most inflammatory remark came, however, when he said, "There is no place in society for gays and queers."
"These people have no place in our society. They have no place in our schools and hospitals and our courthouses. They need to be eradicated from our society. And we need to eradicate this idea that it is acceptable to be a homosexual," Garlo says on the videotape.
Parishioners can be heard applauding and yelling "Amen" in the video.
But at least a few congregants were uncomfortable with the pastor's message. One member of the conservative Baptist church turned the video over to a local news station.
Immediately after the story became public, gay rights groups began a vigorous assault on the pastor and the church.
"Any pastor or priest that says that other people are worth less or are somehow less valuable and deserve to eliminated from society, is not teaching Christian love. They are teaching hatred and bigotry," Van Nanbrook, head of OutPOG, told the GBC.
The Province of Grassadellia Human Rights Commission, the province's largest gay rights group, also assailed Garlo and his teachings.
"What type of church allows someone like this to stand at the pulpit? To represent them to the community and to serve as their guide and their shepherd? This is not what we want in our community. We do not want intolerant people encouraging violence and hatred toward others just because they are different," Jack Fields, chair of the commission told the National Press Federation.
Garlo has yet to speak publicly about the matter, declining comment when reporters went to his Madison Creek home.
But the church did put out a statement, which was posted on the doors of the church and on the church's Facebook page.
In the statement, the church said it does not back away from the Biblical definition of marriage and strongly opposes homosexual relationships. But the statement said the church's leadership does not condone "eliminating or projecting hatred toward any member of society for any reason."
The POG Human Rights Commission says it will file a complaint with the Federal Taxation and Revenue Authority (FTRA), seeking to revoke the tax-exempt status of the church because it preaches hate.
The Brockhaven Post-Gazette reports that Rev. Marvin Garlo, senior pastor at Madison Creek Baptist Church in Charmingdale, was recorded calling gays and lesbians "perverts" and "deviants."
A parishioner videotaped part of the sermon on a cell phone.
During the nearly five-minute episode, Garlo declared the gay rights movement a "bold-faced lie" and "a work of evil orchestrated by Satan himself."
His most inflammatory remark came, however, when he said, "There is no place in society for gays and queers."
"These people have no place in our society. They have no place in our schools and hospitals and our courthouses. They need to be eradicated from our society. And we need to eradicate this idea that it is acceptable to be a homosexual," Garlo says on the videotape.
Parishioners can be heard applauding and yelling "Amen" in the video.
But at least a few congregants were uncomfortable with the pastor's message. One member of the conservative Baptist church turned the video over to a local news station.
Immediately after the story became public, gay rights groups began a vigorous assault on the pastor and the church.
"Any pastor or priest that says that other people are worth less or are somehow less valuable and deserve to eliminated from society, is not teaching Christian love. They are teaching hatred and bigotry," Van Nanbrook, head of OutPOG, told the GBC.
The Province of Grassadellia Human Rights Commission, the province's largest gay rights group, also assailed Garlo and his teachings.
"What type of church allows someone like this to stand at the pulpit? To represent them to the community and to serve as their guide and their shepherd? This is not what we want in our community. We do not want intolerant people encouraging violence and hatred toward others just because they are different," Jack Fields, chair of the commission told the National Press Federation.
Garlo has yet to speak publicly about the matter, declining comment when reporters went to his Madison Creek home.
But the church did put out a statement, which was posted on the doors of the church and on the church's Facebook page.
In the statement, the church said it does not back away from the Biblical definition of marriage and strongly opposes homosexual relationships. But the statement said the church's leadership does not condone "eliminating or projecting hatred toward any member of society for any reason."
The POG Human Rights Commission says it will file a complaint with the Federal Taxation and Revenue Authority (FTRA), seeking to revoke the tax-exempt status of the church because it preaches hate.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment