Baptist Pastor Wants Government to Kill Gays
A Baptist pastor from Kansas is being criticized for a homophobic sermon he delivered where he suggested that the government should kill gay men and woman, Good As You reported in a blog post.
Pastor Curtis Knapp of the New Hope Baptist Church in Seneca, Kan., said that he believes that gays should be put to death by the government.
"So, you're saying we should go out and start killing them? No. I'm saying the government should. They won't, but they should," he said.
"We punish pedophilia," Knapp added. "We punish incest, we punish polygamy and various things. It's only homosexuality that is lifted out as an exemption."
His sermon was recorded and posted on his church's website and the anti-gay comments caught the attention of a number of national media outlets. A local reporter from the local Kansas NBC affiliate, Kanas First News, talked with Knapp about the sermon.
Reporter Lauren Seabrook asked the pastor if he believes the government should kill gays.
"It's one of those things where I can't answer that as a yes or a no. Or I couldn't put it in that sentence and leave it alone. I would have to say 100 sentences prior to that and after it to explain the whole thing," the pastor said.
Knapp said that these are not his words but the word's of God.
"In Leviticus 20:13, if there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act. They shall surely be put to death," he said in his sermon.
Knapp told the news station that his phone has been ringing off the hook.
"The answering machine gets filled up with messages and they're not very nice. Not all are like that, but most of them. Things you don't want your kids to hear." Knapp added that some individuals have threatened him but says people don't have to worry about him.
"I don't think homosexuals have anything to worry about. I don't think the government is going to do that. They don't have anything to worry about from me. I don't believe I should lay a finger against them. My hope is for their salvation, not for their death."
Knapp's comments follow a recent incident where a North Carolina pastor made very similar statements during his sermon last month.
Baptist Pastor Charles Worley said he wants to "get rid of all the lesbians and queers" by putting them into concentration camps.
"Build a great big, large fence -- 50 or a 100 miles long -- and put all the lesbians in there. Fly over and drop some food," the pastor said. "Do the same thing with the queers and the homosexuals - and have that fence electrified so they can't get out. Feed 'em. And you know in a few years, they'll die out. You know why? They can't reproduce."
Worley's sermon was caught on camera and uploaded to YouTube - causing the video to go viral and attract national attention and criticism.
The 71-year-old minister also attacked President Obama who said he supported marriage equality last month.
"I've never been as sick in my life of our president getting up and saying it was alright for two women to marry, or two men to marry. I can tell you right now, I was disappointed bad," he said. "I'll tell you right there, it's as sorry as you can get. The Bible is against, God's against, I'm against and if you've got any sense you're against!"
Throughout the video, members of the congregation can be heard shouting "Amen" to the pastor's anti-gay remarks.
Earlier this week an Indian church was under fire for allowing (and encouraging) a toddler to sing a homophobic song during the church's congregation. The performance was also caught on camera and quickly received thousands of hits on YouTube.
"The Bible is right, somebody's wrong. Romans 1 and 27, ain't no homo gonna make it to heaven," the child sang. During the performance a man yells, "That's my boy!"
It was reported that Reverend Jeff Sangl, the pastor and founder of the church, can be seen in the clip. He apparently is encouraging the toddler by laughing and congratulating him when he finishes the song.
Listen to a clip of the pastor's sermon below: