Arizona Baptist pastor Steven Anderson -- who called for the mass execution of gays in a recent sermon in order to have an "AIDS-free world by Christmas" -- doubled down on his virulently anti-gay stance in this interview with Arizona television anchor Mark Curtis.
"What you have to understand is that the Bible commands that certain people be put to death. Not by me, not by Christians -- it's obviously not my job or the job of any Christian to go out and kill anybody -- and I've never taught anything like that. But rather, that the government's job is to punish criminals and to execute those who committed capital crimes. And according to the Bible, homosexuality is a capital crime. And I didn't write the Bible."
The interview was due to the reaction from Anderson's November 30th sermon where he said this:
“It was right there in the Bible all along — and they’re out spending billions of dollars in research and testing. It’s curable — right there. Because if you executed the homos like God recommends, you wouldn’t have all this AIDS running rampant,” he added. “It wouldn’t be totally AIDS-free, but we’d be like 90-some percent AIDS-free by Christmas if we follow this.”
Note: Anderson's Faithful Word Baptist Church has been certified as an anti-LGBT hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Sorry if my comment is a repeat, Randy. The sign-in and publish is a bit awkward (Can't sign in without a comment, but then comments seems to disappear when signing in with comment.). Anyway,
ReplyDeleteIt is so ironic that Anderson appeals for execution in the name of one executed for calling out religious leaders who placed false burdens on others. The reference of Jesus calling such ilk tombs that look good on the outside (Bible believin'!), but filled with the bones of the dead, comes to mind.