JACKSONVILLE–A sign outside a Jacksonville church that reads “Homosexuals must repent or go to hell,” has outraged local community members and spurred an online petition drive.
According to WJAX-TV, the sign is posted outside the First Conservative Baptist Church in Jacksonville.
Church pastor Gene Youngblood defended his message despite an online petition that has begun circulating to have the sign taken down. Community members told WJXT that it isn’t the first time that objectionable messages have appeared on the sign outside the church. But those same members said they refrained from raising a ruckus to avoid giving the church unwanted publicity.
Youngblood said he is simply exercising his right to free speech.
“Because we love people (yet, as directed in Scripture to hate the sin), we therefore want to warn them of the coming judgment of God on the sin of homosexuality (and any other sin that is not repented of),” Youngblood released in a statement to the media.
The petition on Change.org calls for the sign to be taken down, calling it “homophobic and bigoted.” As of late in the afternoon on May 11, the petition garned about 200 signatures. Some Jacksonville locals said they were appalled by the message.
“I was a little shocked, that they will deliver a message in that manner,” said Evaristo Ghines, who lives near the sign. “I’m a Christian and I believe that God loves everybody, and if you feel that homosexuals should adhere to something, that’s not the way to do it. If the church wants to deliver a message and their goal is to save homosexuals, then you would do it with kindness rather than blurt out a message telling them they’re going straight to hell.”
“It is my sincere prayer that perhaps ‘one’ practicing homosexual will have read our sign and will repent before it is too late and they are cast into hell,” wrote Youngblood. “Hell is a real place, and anyone not believing in the reality of hell, will not change the temperature of the flames a single degree.”
The Change.org petition said the sign does not follow the Bible’s teachings, with one commenter posting it is not “Christian love.”
“Nowehere in the Bible does it mention gays and hell in the same sentence,” the petition reads. “There is no place in Jacksonville for such an ignorant and hatred-filled sign.”
Tim Marcin of the International Business Times contributed to the story.
