Supporters of Pastor Charles L. Worley
are speaking out in defense of his anti-gay rant.
Worley, who ministers at the Providence
Road Baptist Church in Maiden, North Carolina, has been criticized for
telling congregants during a
May 13 sermon that gay men and women should be confined behind an
electrified fence and left to die.
When he added, “Somebody said, 'Who
you gonna vote for?' I ain't gonna vote for a baby killer and a
homosexual lover,” some in the crowd could be heard responding with
“Amen.”
Church member Stacey Pritchard appeared
Wednesday on cabler CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 to defend
Worley's sermon.
“I agree with what the sermon was and
what it was about,” Pritchard told host Anderson Cooper.
“If they can't get the message that
that's wrong, then, you know, they can't reproduce and eventually
they would die.”
“Right, but that wouldn't eliminate
all gay people. There would be more gay people born outside the
fence to straight people. Wouldn't there?” Cooper asked.
“Exactly, but we were meaning the
ones in there. You see, it's all taken out of context and twisted.
The main point is always the same,” she responded. “This is a
pastor that speaks the word of God.” (The video is embedded in the
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More supporters defended Worley's
comments in a separate 360
segment broadcast on Tuesday.
“Probably the most compassionate man
I've ever known,” church member Joe Heffner told the news outlet.
“He's just got a big heart for people.”
“Being gay and lesbian or whatever,
homosexual, is wrong according to the Bible,” an unidentified man
said. “We love the people, hate the sin, okay. Point blank. You
need to lay off our pastor.”