CHRISTIAN YOUTH CHOIR LIKENED TO NAZIS, ISIS
'This church ticks every box on the Ugly Religious Fundamentalism checklist'
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image: http://www.wnd.com/files/2016/07/prestonwood-baptist-church-youth-choir-600.jpg
Prestonwood Baptist Church’s youth choir
Commentators in Scotland are aghast that a youth choir from a Christian church in America was allowed to perform at a shopping center there, and are comparing the kids from Texas to the Nazis, or ISIS.
The stunning reaction to a performance by a youth choir from Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, came from several commentators who took to their word processors to denounce the group.
“What message does it send when a shopping center welcomes this kind of musical Trojan horse into a Scottish city, and where do we draw the line?” wrote Shona Craven, who writes for the Herald and the National.
“A neo-Nazi puppet show at the Gyle Shopping Center? Magic tricks by Islamic State at Buchanan Galleries? I’m sure most Scots are far too savvy to be taken in by evangelical showmanship, but that’s not really the point. As a nation we should be stating clearly: bigots are not welcome here.”
Stephen Naysmith, of the the Herald Scotland warned that the Scottish Secular Society has issued an alert that “southern baptist (sic) ministries in the U.S. were increasingly looking to use their money and religious influence to attempt to change laws in the UK and other countries.”
The reason for the hate?
The youths’ church follows biblical teaching on homosexuality, abortion and other hot-button issues.
Craven pointed to the church’s pro-marriage and pro-life views as reasons why the youth choir would be “not welcome.”
Here’s an example of the Prestonwood youth choirs:
The performance was just one of literally thousands of performances by American groups that tour Europe as part of their education every year. High schools sent choirs and bands, colleges send choirs and bands, music camps send choirs and bands and more.
Pastor Jack Graham explains on the church website that, “The thing that drives our church is still and forever will be the Great Commission. For us, it is all about the Message – proclaiming it from the pulpit and getting it to as many people as possible.”
The church was launched in 1977, and it has grown since then to now involve about 41,000 members at two campuses.
A report from the Christian Institute in the U.K. noted that a spokesman for Waverly Mall in Edinburgh, where the group was featured, said he did not think the choir sang “anything that would upset anybody.”
“I was unaware of their views and my views are completely different. But the plaza was packed and it was well-received.”
Naysmith, however, gave a platform to officials with the Scottish Secular Society.
“We are very concerned about megachurches who have a growing interest in coming over to Ireland, Scotland and England and pushing their extremely fundamentalist agenda,” said spokeswoman Megan Crawford. “Why are they even allowed here to try to affect our laws and lives?”
The Herald Scotland said the 100-strong group sang and handed out prayer cards.
He accused, “However, there was no outward sign of what the church really stands for. In Texas, Jack Graham the head of the church has backed Donald Trump’s presidential election campiagn and refuses to accept gay marriage laws. ‘The Scriptures’ teaching on marriage is non-negoatible … we cannot and will not affirm the moral acceptability of homosexual behavior,’ he said.”
He charged that the church also “funds a pregnancy center which claims to advise women in crisis but really boasts of persuading half of the 3,000 who visit a year to ‘choose life’ for their baby ‘in a culture all too quick to snuff it out.'”
Craven’s rant wasn’t finished.
“This church ticks every box on the Ugly Religious Fundamentalism checklist: homophobia and transphobia, an obsession with sexual purity, and a firm anti-choice agenda thinly disguised as concern for women’s wellbeing,” she wrote.
“If antisocial behavior is that which seeks to damage and disrupt the tolerance, compassion and respect for human rights that characterize our society, then this organization surely has the potential to do a great deal more harm than a few dozen delinquent teens getting high and making a nuisance of themselves.”
Copyright 2016 WND
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