http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/386c25518f464186bf7a2ac026580ce7/Article_2017-06-01-US--Broken%20Faith-Fenner/id-52102805c18e46e6886153411aea816a
>RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. (AP) — A North Carolina man thought he was "going to die" when members of his evangelical church beat and choked him for two hours to expel his "homosexual demons," he testified Thursday.
>Matthew Fenner was the first person to take the stand in the assault and kidnapping trial of Brooke Covington, a 58-year-old minister at Word of Faith Fellowship in Spindale, North Carolina.
>Fenner, 23, said Covington was the leader in a 2013 beating involving numerous congregants. He said Covington pointed out his sexual orientation, saying, "God said there is something wrong in your life."
>Fenner said he had cancer as a child and had a biopsy one week before he was assaulted.
>"I'm frail and in my mind, I'm thinking, 'is my neck going to break, am I going to die?'" Fenner said.
>Covington faces up to two years in prison if convicted. She is the first of five church members to face trial in the case. Each defendant will be tried separately.
>Prosecutor Garland Byers said during opening statements that Covington "directed and participated in" the assault.
>Fenner has said he was leaving a Sunday night prayer service Jan. 27, 2013, when nearly two dozen people surrounded him in the sanctuary. He said they slapped, punched, choked and blasted him — a church practice that involves intense screaming — for two hours as they tried to expel his "homosexual demons."
>Covington's lawyer, David Teddy, painted a different picture.
>Teddy said the congregation gave Fenner routine prayer that lasted no longer than 15 to 20 minutes. When the prayer was over, Fenner "hugged everybody and left the church," Teddy said.
>As part of an ongoing, two-year investigation into abuse of Word of Faith Fellowship congregants by church leaders, The Associated Press interviewed four former church members who say they witnessed Fenner being attacked.
>Based on interviews with 43 former members, documents and secretly made recordings, the AP reported in February that Word of Faith Fellowship congregants were regularly punched, smacked, choked, slammed to the floor or thrown through walls in a violent form of deliverance meant to "purify" sinners by beating out devils.
>The church has scores of strict rules to control congregants' lives, including whether they can marry or have children. Failure to comply often triggers a humiliating rebuke from the pulpit or, worse, physical punishment, according to numerous former members interviewed by AP. Members can't watch television, go to the movies, read newspapers or eat in restaurants that play music or serve alcohol. If church leaders believe a congregant has sexual or dirty thoughts, they can be accused of being "unclean" and be punished, the former members said.
>Fenner said he joined the sect with his mother and brother in 2010. He fled after he said he was attacked.
>The defense had filed requests to move the trial out of Rutherford County, located in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains midway between Charlotte and Asheville, due to years of negative publicity about the church's practices. As an alternative, the defense asked to have a jury brought in from another area.
>Superior Court Judge Gary Gavenus denied those requests.
>The AP's investigation also revealed that congregants were ordered by church leaders to lie to authorities investigating reports of abuse and that two assistant district attorneys and a veteran social worker were among those who coached congregants and their children on what to say to investigators. After the AP report, the prosecutors, including one who is a son-in-law of a church founder, left their jobs, and the social worker resigned.
>The sect was founded in 1979 by Jane Whaley, a former math teacher, and her husband, Sam, a former used car salesman. Under Jane Whaley's leadership, Word of Faith Fellowship grew from a handful of followers to a 750-member congregation in North Carolina, and another nearly 2,000 members in churches in Brazil and Ghana. It also has affiliations in other countries.
>>145858
But only Muslims are bad!
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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Word_of_Faith
>health-and-wealth doctrine
>if someone is not experiencing prosperity, it is because they have given Satan authority over their lives.
They claim Jesus and his apostles were financially rich -- like hanging out with nobility levels of rich. Thus by grace of God good people will also be rich. This is also used to justify the church leaders' lavish lifestyles.
The problem is that while academic apologists of Evangelism have said the health-and-wealth doctrine is considered "neither fully orthodox nor fully heretical," it still infects the doctrine and behavior of Charismatic Christian Evangelism across the board. Oral Roberts and his University are direct followers of this doctrine and it has produced two senators and hundreds of Washington mongrels; Norman Peale was hugely influential on Nixon and Reagan, while both Clinton and Trump have praised his teachings; and of course you have the conspicuous wealth of Jerry Falwell and Billy Graham to whom the entire GOP legislature must literally pay tribute every election cycle.
This might give some insight into some of the crazier claims coming out of, say, the US health care debate. For example, Rep. Mo Brooks (R-Alabama) said on CNN that “people who lead good lives” don’t have to worry about dealing with pre-existing conditions. It also may help explain why GOP doctrine regarding the moral responsibility of wealth has become steadily more extreme.
Oh well, I guess it's ok as long as the other cults don't brutally assault people -- at least not against their will.
>>145929
>They claim Jesus and his apostles were financially rich
Something something eye of a needle
>>145929
I don't think prosperity in the Christian sense is what the secular world would describe as such.
Prosperity is like a good spiritual bedrock, strong family, strong faith, and a successful / meaningful livlihood. Not sway money.
>>145985
This is literally what that passage is about. The historical context is that hebrews at the time saw wealth as a sign of gods favor, basically a guranteed access to heaven. One of the major teachings of Jesus is that faith and faith alone gets you through. This is a church that directly opposes the teachings of Christ but will be used for years about a vague blob labled christians bei- SWEET JESUS I SEE WHAT THOSE #NOTALLMUSLIMS ARE GOING ON ABOUT
>>145907
Stay on topic, idiot. Islam has got nothing to do with the original story, so leave it out.
>>145907
At least you are allowed to criticize Christians.
>>145929
Who ever believes the health and wealth doctrine has never read the bible.
They are ignorant heretics.
>>146153
To be fair, like 99% of so-called Christians directly oppose some of Jesus' teachings as well.
>>146174
>They are ignorant heretics.
>“Drive them out. Drive them out of your places of worship. Drive them out of your communities. Drive them out of your holy land and drive them out of this earth,” - Donald J. Trump on violent heretics.
>>146174
>Who ever believes the health and wealth doctrine
The doctrine itself is a metastasized cancer throughout the GOP and US politics in general. Congresspeople like Mo Brooks are nondenominational protestant and fairly religion-lite yet somehow their dialogue has been infected with the doctrine.
>>145988
Read the article and direct links on health and wealth doctrine. I am using the quote in correct context. Don't be a moron.
>>146230
Youd be surprised how little the bible asks of christians. Most of it is allegorys and metaphors for common issues people face. Based on denomination the requirements are either Faith or Faith and baptism or faith, baptism and eucharist.