In the wake of the attack on the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida last week, many right-wing Christian religious leaders have celebrated the shooter’s actions, but a Texas pastor is taking that to a whole new level. Pastor Donnie Romero of Stedfast Baptist Church in Fort Worth told his flock he agrees “100 percent” with Baptist Pastor Roger Jimenez, who made news with his sermon advocating that the government should use a firing squad to “blow their brains out.”…. “These 50 sodomites are all perverts and pedophiles, and they are the scum of the earth, and the earth is a little bit better place now,” Romero said in the Sunday sermon. “And I’ll take it a step further, because I heard on the news today, that there are still several dozen of these queers in ICU and intensive care. And I will pray to God like I did this morning, I will do it tonight, I’ll pray that God will finish the job that that man started, and he will end their life, and by tomorrow morning they will all be burning in hell, just like the rest of them, so that they don’t get any more opportunity to go out and hurt little children.”
Perhaps I grew up surrounded by a bunch of effete, overly-tolerant Liberal Lutherans, but my Sunday School lessons left me with the distinct impression that Jesus Christ was all about love, tolerance, acceptance, and inclusion. I may not believe in God, but I do remember a thing or two about the Christianity I as exposed to. If you can stand in front of your congregation and not only condone but celebrate the Orlando massacre, not only are you a monster and a miserable excuse for humanity, you’re a Christian in NO sense of the word.
In a country of more than 250 million people, there are bound to be more than a few miserable ambulatory meat sacks spreading all manner of filth- that’s the beauty of the 1st Amendment and the freedom of speech and religion it guarantees. That said, if you lead a church that’s been recognized by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as a hate group, you’re doing Christianity wrong. Think about the absurdity of that; a Christian church singled out as a hate group. Think about that as the love of Jesus Christ washes over you.
If you honestly believe that the love of Christ compels you to rejoice over mass murder, you’re a sick individual who has no business leading any sort of religious community…much less referring to yourself as a “Christian.” Please do society a favor and step away from the pulpit you shouldn’t be occupying to begin with. You’re a representative of the teachings of Jesus Christ in the same way Lizzie Borden believed in non-violent conflict resolution.
Besides, since when are hatred and genocide considered Christian values?
