The Great Smoky Mountain Journal

Staff, Wire Reports

Posted: Tuesday, January 01, 2019 02:20 PM

Facebook Removes Christian Ministry Page "Warriors For Christ" Page

Facebook has removed the Christian ministry “Warriors for Christ” page, saying the page violated community standards on bullying and hate speech.

Warriors for Christ, a West Virginia-based ministry, are a group that opposes any sinful behavior. Its Facebook page had more than 225,000 followers.

Its administrators frequently post memes that criticize LGBT rights and abortions, among other topics. Videos from Pastor Rich Penkoski are also posted on the page.

The page was first taken down on Dec. 29.

The page was reinstated after an online petition called for Facebook to reverse its decision. The page was then again removed last Friday.

Penkoski told The Christian Post that the group’s Christian beliefs are being “censored.”

"We can't even use the term 'LGBT' in any context whatsoever or else it immediately gets flagged and banned. If we type those four letters out in our page, it gets removed," Penkoski said.

He said that only 3 percent of their 3,000 posts referred to LGBT issues. The organization’s focus is counseling, he added.

"Yet, homosexuality is the focus that everyone keeps talking about with us. We talk about abortion. We talk about adultery. We talk about fornication. Nobody ever talks about that stuff," he added. "When Facebook pulled our page [for the first time], we were actually counseling with a young woman who was suicidal."

The second time the page was pulled, Penkoski said he did not receive an explanation and was told the decision could not be appealed.

"Your Page 'Warriors for Christ' has been removed for violating our Terms of Use. A Facebook Page is a distinct presence used solely for business or promotional purposes. Among other things, Pages that are hateful, threatening or obscene are not allowed," the email reads. "We also take down Pages that attack an individual or group, or that are set up by an unauthorized individual. If your Page was removed for any of the above reasons, it will not be reinstated. Continued misuse of Facebook's features could result in the permanent loss of your account."

Facebook did not comment, but instead pointed to their policies on hate speech and bullying, which says bullying or harassment is not tolerated and pages that “attack” people based on race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, sex, gender and gender identity will be removed.