CHESAPEAKE, Va. -- A church sign in Virginia has caused a lot of people to look twice. The sign appears to link Satan with equal rights, and it has some people fuming. Taylor Road is a busy road through Chesapeake but that hasn’t stopped some people from taking U-turns when they saw the sign out front the Taylor Road Baptist Church.
"I was frustrated and angry at the time,” Terri Young told WAVY TV. "When I drove by it, I wasn't sure I read it right. So I did a U-turn."
She read it right. The sign reads, "Remember, Satan was the first to demand equal rights."
"It's a good place to put things,” said one man. “But put the right thing. Not the wrong thing."
The expression references Isaiah chapter 14, verses 12 through 17, in the Bible.
But it's the words that have some residents and commuters confused, which position Satan and equal rights together.
People who live nearby are unsure what “equal rights groups” they are talking about.
“Are they talking about the gay community, are they talking about minorities, are they talking about women? But any of them, it's dogma over humanity, is all I kept thinking -- how ridiculous it was to put something like that there."
Pastor Mel Kunkle didn't want to do an interview. But he would say that the message doesn't target a specific group. He said it's about evil, referencing Satan trying to be equal with god. And he stands up for what scripture said.
"I’m a church going person. I know what Satan does. He's not no good, that's one thing for sure,” said one church goes. “But I wouldn't put it on the side of the road to upset people's feelings about what's put on a sign."
Kunkle said he understands people are offended. But added the sign is meant to make people think. And it is certainly starting some discussion.
"I mean, what is that teaching children then? It's not okay to ask for equal rights? If you do, and someone else thinks you shouldn't have them. That you equal Satan? I don't get it,” said Young.
The pastor said the sign has been up since Sunday.
