WYFF TV: JONESVILLE, S.C. — Following a day of national attention and public outcry over a sign in front of a small church in a small town, the message has been changed.
The sign in front of the Jonesville Church of God said, “Obama, Osama, hmm, are they brothers?”
On Tuesday, the Church Of God’s International Office issued a statement saying that the sign had been removed.
The message on the sign now reads: “How will you spend eternity, smoking or no smoking?”
Pastor Roger Byrd said that he had just wanted to get people thinking. He said that the message wasn’t meant to be racial or political.
“It’s simply to cause people to realize and to see what possibly could happen if we were to get someone in there that does not believe in Jesus Christ,” he said.
When asked if he believes that Barack Obama is Muslim, Byrd said, “I don’t know. See it asks a question: Are they brothers? In other words, is he Muslim? I don’t know. He says he’s not. I hope he’s not. But I don’t know. And it’s just something to try to stir people’s minds. It was never intended to hurt feelings or to offend anybody.”
Obama has said repeatedly during his campaign that he is a Christian and attends Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago.
The amount of attention the message received surprised Byrd.
“I’m very surprised,” he said, “It shocked me and startled me.”
Byrd had said that he and his congregation decided on Sunday night to leave the sign up, and that he didn’t want it to appear that controversy forced him to take the sign down.
The WYFF4.com story about the sign was viewed more than a quarter million times by users across the country. Hundreds of negative comments regarding the sign were posted online. On Tuesday, Byrd apparently decided the wording on the sign should be replaced.
He was not available for comment on Tuesday.
