Bias Watch

Pastor says he doesn’t hate gay people, he just thinks they’re all pedophiles who should be executed

Pastor Jonathan Shelley
Pastor Jonathan Shelley Photo: Screenshot/Twitter

A Texas pastor who called for the deaths of LGBTQ people – saying he “would love it if every fag would die right now” – is now mad that people are telling “lies” that his church’s members “don’t love people,” in a video where he goes on to say that he believes all gay men are pedophiles.

Pastor Jonathan Shelley of the Stedfast Bible Church in Hurst, Texas told his congregation last month about Jim Fahy, a 75-year-old member of the Fort Lauderdale Gay Men’s Chorus who was killed when a driver accidentally drove into the Wilton Manors Pride parade.

Related: Louie Gohmert “mistakenly” gave $5500 to awful “death to gays” hate pastor

“And, you know, it’s great when trucks accidentally go through those, you know, parades,” Pastor Shelley said about the tragedy. “I think only one person died. So hopefully we can hope for more in the future.”

“You say, ‘Well, that’s mean.’ Yeah, but the Bible says that they’re worthy of death!” he continued. “They say, ‘Are you sad when fags die?’ No. I think it’s great! I hope they all die! I would love it if every fag would die right now.”

“And you say, ‘Well, I don’t think that’s what you really mean.’ That’s exactly what I mean. I really mean it!”

This past Wednesday, Shelley posted a video to YouTube entitled “Love They Neighbor As Thyself (Pastor Shelley Explains Death Penalty Belief),” where he called out people who “make up a lot of lies about our church, or they slander us, or they take things out of context and try to make it seem like we don’t love people.” The video has since been taken down.

“I personally believe that all of these sodomites – you know, people that are men with men – are pedophiles because that means they just simply are attracted to children,” he said, according to Hemant Mehta at The Friendly Atheist, who wrote about the video before it was removed. “They’re attracted to these people that are ages of 17, 16, 15, 14, 13.”

“Anybody that loves children, that loves their family, would want this person to be executed through the proper channels.”

“I’m not a violent person,” he continued. “The Bible makes it clear there’s a difference between putting someone to death and murder.”

The Southern Poverty Law Center considers the Stedfast Baptist Church an anti-LGBTQ hate group. It’s part of the New Independent Fundamental Baptist Movement, which includes Steven Anderson’s Faithful Word Baptist Church.

Anderson has been banned from dozens of countries – including the entire Schengen Area – because of his anti-LGBTQ and anti-semitic statements.

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