When Fred Phelps, leader of the hate group the Westboro Baptist Church passed away last year, it seemed like humanity might get a little relief from the hate-spewing ramblings of a crazy man. Unfortunately, there’s usually somebody ready to pick up the slack when one hatemonger kicks the bucket and Arizona pastor Steven Anderson seems ready to fill the void, demanding that all persons who identify as LGBT be killed.
Anderson recently called out to his church members in a sermon that the solution to the AIDS problem was a mass genocide of all homosexuals and was the only way the world would have an AIDS-free Christmas.
“Turn to Leviticus 20:13,” he says in the video, “because I actually discovered the cure for AIDS. If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them”, Anderson preached.
“And that, my friend, is the cure for AIDS. 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”.
Anderson is the head pastor of the Faithful World Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. It’s important to note that Anderson’s church is independent and not affiliated with other churches in the Baptist World Alliance which have slowly been making strides towards more accepting views on homosexuality.
The sermon Anderson gives includes him lashing out at the idea that one can be Christian and LGBT or support LGBT rights, saying: “no homos will ever be allowed in this church as long as I’m pastor here!” Anderson’s hate-filled sermons are not anything new, though. They garnered the attention of the Secret Service when Anderson gave a sermon titled “Why I hate Barack Obama” in 2009 where he said he prayed for the death of the president. Anderson explained himself to news stations that covered the story, trying to cover his tracks saying that he didn’t want his parishioners inflicting harm on the president, only to pray that he died of natural causes to benefit the United States.
Anderson’s rantings are a long way from the newly changed mindset of Pastor Danny Cortez, who recently made headlines when his California congregation decided to affirm same-sex sexuality and relationships after the pastor’s son came out as gay. Cortez described in a letter that he posted to Patheos.com that he realized he “no longer believed in the traditional teachings regarding homosexuality”. Cortez describes his son coming out to him as a life-changing moment.
“My heart skipped a beat and I turned towards him and we gave one another the biggest and longest hug as we cried. And all I could tell him was that I loved him so much and that I accepted him just as he is”.
In addressing the issue to his congregation, Cortez turned to the book “A Letter to My Congregation”, by pastor Ken Wilson who serves a Vineyard church in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and describes the book as “an evangelical pastor’s path to embracing people who are gay, lesbian, and transgender in the company of Jesus”.
While the teachings of men like Cortez and Wilson are the polar opposite of Steven Anderson’s hate-laden sermons, they represent a growing change among traditionally strict conservative Christian sects like the Baptist church. Whether they decide to reevaluate their views or turn away from the issue of accepting LGBT lifestyles is a question every church will eventually have to answer.