If this story is true it’s appalling but not exactly surprising. A gay couple tried to attend a church service at the church one of their fathers leads and ended up getting assaulted by deacons.
Pittman said the attacked was prompted by the pastor of the church, Jerry Pittman, his father.
“My uncle and two other deacons came over to the car per my dad’s request. My uncle smash me in the door as the other deacon knocked my boyfriend back so he couldn’t help me, punching him in his face and his chest. The other deacon came and hit me through my car window in my back,” said Pittman. He said bystanders did not offer assistance. He said the deacon yelled derogatory homosexual slurs, even after officers arrived.
Here’s a local news report on the incident.
18 comments
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MikeMa
October 7, 2011 at 9:17 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
The unavoidable result of a loving god.
Hercules Grytpype-Thynne
October 7, 2011 at 9:20 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Is that supposed to be an embedded video? It’s just a black box for me.
Mr Ed
October 7, 2011 at 9:21 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Blessed are:
the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.
the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God
the hateful in God’s name: they shall be the thugs of the Lord
3zebras
October 7, 2011 at 9:26 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Seriously, us gays can’t even go to a church in Fruitland?
Ed Brayton
October 7, 2011 at 9:30 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Yeah, there seems to be a problem getting videos other than Youtube to embed when using Chrome. Weird.
GenghisFaun
October 7, 2011 at 9:35 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Guess what? This fine, upstanding “man of god” has also recently been arrested for stealing. Oh, and he’s apparently quite fond of assault, as he was arrested for that back in 2006.
Deen
October 7, 2011 at 9:41 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’m confused. Is this what they mean by “hate the sin, love the sinner”?
fifthdentist
October 7, 2011 at 9:50 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@ Deen
No, that’s a misprint. It’s “Hate the sin, assault the sinner.”
Aquaria
October 7, 2011 at 9:58 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
“I haven’t talk to him but that would be out of character for my deputy to say unless they were causing a problem themselves,” said Sheriff Arnold.
Congratulations. He just gave the county wiggle room to put the blame on the gays.
You can almost hear the banjos and humans squealing like pigs in the background, the soundtrack of the South.
skmarshall
October 7, 2011 at 10:07 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
they do carry on out in the country…
there’s a follow-up story:
http://www.wbbjtv.com/news/Deacon-Stabbed-In-Bradford-130888923.html
MikeMa
October 7, 2011 at 10:18 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@skmarshall
The followup story read like an Onion story but, what you sow, so shall you reap. Or something. Asshole fundies.
Ellie
October 7, 2011 at 10:30 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I read about this several days ago. Something bothers me about this story. I think there’s far more going on here than a church beating up on a gay couple, and probably has to do with an extremely disfunctional family that has issues I don’t even want to think about.
slc1
October 7, 2011 at 11:10 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Re Ed Brayton @ #5
Yeah, there seems to be a problem getting videos other than Youtube to embed when using Chrome. Weird.
Real men use Firefox.
Trebuchet
October 7, 2011 at 12:14 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
From the followup report:
I never knew that Saturday morning was near Trenton. I suspect my eighth-grade English teacher is spinning in her grave.
What do bet that the sherrif’s department is much more interested in investigating the alleged assault and fire than in the original incident?
sebloom
October 7, 2011 at 1:32 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@12 Ellie
I agree that there’s probably a lot more going on here than is being reported. The whole thing makes me wonder how these people define “Christian Love”…
winterwind
October 7, 2011 at 5:26 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I know it’s immature, but when I read “Grace Fellowship Church Fruitland” I had a fit of giggles.
Reading what happened to the gay couple sobered me up, though.
Midnight Rambler
October 7, 2011 at 5:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Selling stolen copper for scrap money + stabbed in the middle of the night by masked men + house burned down + rural west Tennessee = meth
jnorris
October 7, 2011 at 9:19 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Five words: TV Movie Of The Week.
If I wrote this as a movie script no one would buy it: too unbelievable.
Sequel to MOTW – The Pittman Thanksgiving, a Fruitland tradition!