Sometimes fundies do some really strange and even violent/criminal things. Such is the case with regard to this case out of North Carolina.
From LGBTQ Nation:
Five members of an anti-LGBT church in Spindale, N.C., were indicted on several felony charges this week, following a complaint lodged by a young gay man who says church members kidnapped him and assaulted him because of his sexual orientation.
A grand jury indicted Justin Brock Covington, Brooke McFadden Covington, Robert Louis Walker Jr. and Adam Christopher Bartley on second degree kidnapping and simple assault charges. A fifth member, Sarah Covington Anderson, was indicted on second degree kidnapping as well as simple assault and assault by strangulation.
The grand jury met on Monday, with indictment announcements released on Tuesday.
All are members of The Word of Faith Fellowship, a church which has continually come under fire for its alleged cult-like behaviors and severe treatment of members, particularly young people.
In this most recent case, 21-year-old student Matthew Fenner, a member of the church since age 16, alleges that several members targeted him because of his sexual orientation.
And, from
QNotes:
The first took place on Jan. 27, 2013, in which Sarah Covington Anderson led a group of members in questioning Fenner about his “sin.” Brooke Covington then threatened Fenner with confinement in the sanctuary for two days if he did not begin to confess his sins.
“By this point, Sarah began to tell me how much she couldn’t stand to be around me and that I was disgusting because of my sexual orientation,” Fenner writes in the affidavit. “I told her that I was sorry that I didn’t know what she wanted me to tell her and to which she then slapped me with a great amount of force across my left cheek. At this point I was really starting to get scared.”
A group of members then surrounded Fenner, peppering him with question.
“Deliverance soon ensued (which meant extremely rough pushing, loud screaming, and other violent measures intended to ‘break me free of the homosexual ‘demons” they so viciously despite), and I was at one point grabbed by my throat by Sarah and shaken, punched, and beaten,” Fenner continues. “I received many bruises on my collarbones, neck, chest, and shoulders.”
According to the article, the church has had similar allegations made against it in the past. It sounds to me like some of these church members need to go to jail for a while. Committing these violent and hateful acts in the name of G-d is the abomination here, not this young man's sexual orientation.