*The pastor of a South Carolina megachurch had to come out and apologize for his wife on Thursday after she posted an angry Facebook message targeting black NFL players who take a knee against against social injustice.
Fox Carolina reported that Rev. Ron Carpenter, Jr. of Greenville’s Redemption Church posted the apology video on Facebook after his wife Hope Carpenter criticized pro athletes who kneel in protest during the national anthem.
“This will not fix racism! Duh!!! Only Jesus!,” she wrote. “If you wanna kneel… then u [sic] better be praying to the one and only who can heal our land.”
Black athletes, she said, should “stop thinking about it from your history or race” and admit that “our country is not yo [sic] blame!”
Ron Carpenter said the ongoing backlash surrounding her post has left Hope too “emotional” to respond, so he recorded a video instead to include both of their apologies.
He and his wife both grew up in military families, Carpenter said, and “view the flag as sacred.” And that in spite of her post, Hope has “one of the best hearts” of anyone he’s ever known.
“It’s been tough, the things that have been said about us… but maybe we deserved it,” Carpenter said. “Maybe this is a learning moment for us. So I’m not going to tell you to be quiet. I’m going to tell you to teach me.”
“We ask you to forgive us if we’ve hurt you in any way,” he continued. “I ask you to teach me what I don’t know… I don’t want to be ignorant.”
Watch the video below:
