WAYNESVILLE, N.C. - Some in Pastor Chan Chandler?s flock wish he had a little less zeal for the GOP.

 

Members of the small East Waynesville Baptist Church say Chandler led an effort to kick out congregants who didn?t support President Bush. Nine members were voted out at a Monday church meeting in this mountain town, about 120 miles west of Charlotte.

 

?He?s the kind of pastor who says do it my way or get out,? said Selma Morris, the former church treasurer. ?He?s real negative all the time.?

 

Chandler didn?t return a message left by The Associated Press at his home Friday, and several calls to the church went unanswered. He told WLOS-TV in Asheville that the actions were not politically motivated.

 

The station also reported that 40 others in the 400-member congregation resigned in protest after Monday?s vote.

 

During the presidential election last year, Chandler told the congregation that anyone who planned to vote for Democratic Sen. John Kerry should either leave the church or repent, said former member Lorene Sutton.

 

Some church members left after Chandler made his ultimatum in October, Morris said.

 

George Bullard, associate executive director-treasurer for Baptist State Convention of North Carolina, told the Asheville Citizen-Times that a pastor has every right to disallow memberships if a church?s bylaws allow for the pastor to establish criteria for membership.

 

?Membership is a local church issue,? he said. ?It is not something the state convention would enter into.?

 

He added that the nine members were not legally terminated because Monday?s meeting was supposed to be a deacons meeting, not a business meeting. They have a lawyer looking into the situation, he said.

 

The head of the North Carolina Democratic Party sharply criticized the pastor Friday, saying Chandler jeopardized his church?s tax-free status by openly supporting a candidate for president.

 

?If these reports are true, this minister is not only acting extremely inappropriately by injecting partisan politics into a house of worship, but he is also potentially breaking the law,? Chairman Jerry Meek said.

 

Doris Wilson, one of Chandler?s neighbors and a member of First Baptist Church in Waynesville, said God doesn?t play partisan politics.

 

?I hate to see the church suffer like that,? she said. ?God doesn?t care whether you?re a Republican or a Democrat. It just hurts to see that going on.?

 

 

This story makes me sick. :thumbdown :thumbdown :thumbdown

I am with you on that FutureGM. Thats disgusting that people should be kicked out of their house of worship just because they have different political views then the leader of the congregation.

The stupid things some people in my party do.

 

*shakes head*

Getting kicked out of Baptist church>>>>Being Mormom

 

Whatever that has to do with anything, I don't know

 

 

:plain

But the Mormons are the ones who get into Heaven. Then again, there is the Heaven vs. Hell thing, so Heaven needs all the forces it can get to counter the damned souls. Bring in the golden PSP!!!!

 

BTW, if you don't kill Kenny, Hell wins.

But the Mormons are the ones who get into Heaven. Then again, there is the Heaven vs. Hell thing, so Heaven needs all the forces it can get to counter the damned souls. Bring in the golden PSP!!!!

 

BTW, if you don't kill Kenny, Hell wins.

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:notworthy Great episode.

The thing about churches is, there's plenty of them. Yeah the pastor is in the wrong but it's not like the Democrats in this town will never be able to go to church again.

How about those Marines who weren't allowed to park their cars in a union parking lot because they had pro-Bush bumper stickers?

 

There is ignorance on both sides.

How about those Marines who weren't allowed to park their cars in a union parking lot because they had pro-Bush bumper stickers?

 

There is ignorance on both sides.

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When was that? I don't remember reading it, but I would be interested.

 

Just to add, when I heard this story on TV yesterday, the first thing that came to my mind were those flyers that people were handing out before the election in the south that said Kerry would ban the Bible if he was elected president, and all of this BS that was completely false.

 

There was also a case where a woman was fired from her job for driving to work with a Kerry bumper sticker on her car, which made her boss (a Bush supporter) angry.

Hey, there's d-bags all over the spectrum

When was that? I don't remember reading it, but I would be interested.

 

Just to add, when I heard this story on TV yesterday, the first thing that came to my mind were those flyers that people were handing out before the election in the south that said Kerry would ban the Bible if he was elected president, and all of this BS that was completely false.

 

There was also a case where a woman was fired from her job for driving to work with a Kerry bumper sticker on her car, which made her boss (a Bush supporter) angry.

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I just found the article and posted it: http://www.marlinbaseball.com/forums/index...t=0#entry766439

The problem with this is that its worse for religion than it is for democrats. This guy is letting a political platform dictate how one's religious views and practices should be done. You simply cannot allow political policy to influence religion.

 

In my opinion thats as great a danger as the opposite of letting religion influence government. Thats why seperation of church and state is so important. It reeks of a time when Popes made decrees based on what kings told them, not for morality, but for political self interest. If interest groups can gain the ear of your pastor, then the line between morality/Christian teachings and political agenda has been blurred.

 

This is one of the main reasons people oppose groups like focus on the family and all those right wing religious groups who feel seperation of church and state needs to be less strict. It's as much for the benefit of the religious as it is for the atheists. Religion is personal. Imagine if the NRA or PETA was able to influence what your pastor guiding you on.