Christian Pastor Spreads the Love of Jesus by Praying Gay Author Commits Suicide

[Goblinmonger]

Baptist pastor writes gay author he hasn’t met: ‘I pray that you will commit suicide’]

Pastor Logan Robertson of the Westcity Bible Baptist Church in Auckland, New Zealand wrote the email to Jim Marjoram, author of the book ‘It’s Life Jim,’ written to promote a more gay-friendly Christianity, reports The New Zealand Herald

In the email, Robertson wrote, “We are not interested in your filthy lifestyle or book. The Bible says you are vile, strange (queer), reprobate, filth, sodomite, natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed. I pray that you will commit suicide, you filthy child molesting fag.”

After being informed that his email had created outrage on social media, Robertson denied doing anything wrong, telling NZME News Service, “I didn’t tell him to go and commit suicide. I said I prayed that he would. All I did was write what I wrote, and then I prayed about it that he would, and that’s it. There’s nothing more to say.”

...

In a later interview, Robertson admitted, “I think every single one of them should be put to death. Christians shouldn’t be doing it, I’m not going to do it, it’s the Government’s job to be doing it.”

Of course, I'm sure this has nothing to do with his religion.

Full Article

[cbayer]

1. What a disgusting piece of shit.

Even though I do not really believe in it, thinking that karma may exist helps me deal with kind of hater.

And why in the world you added your last editorial comment escapes me. This is a meme without substance that is carried around like a cross. Let it go. There is not a single person here who would say that this has nothing to do with his religion. Not a single one.

[Goblinmonger]

2. I am often amazed at what people will say has nothing to do with religion.

Thank you for saying that this does.

And he is a vile piece of shit. My only solace is that (hopefully very) soon we as a society will look back at this kind of thought and realize it for the putrid hate it is.

[cbayer]

4. When a decompensated schizophrenic commits a heinous crime,

people will often say that it does not have to do with religion.

Do you find that amazing?

No one is going to say that this doesn't have anything to do with religion. And I am pretty sure that "we as a society" already see this as the putrid hate that it is.

[Goblinmonger]

5. If "we as a society" saw this as putrid hate

then we wouldn't have gay marriage bans. I think this attitude is far more common than you want to admit.

[cbayer]

6. Oh, please. Wanting someone to kill themselves is putrid hate.

And as despicable as I think gay marriage bans are, it's not the same thing.

I am not naive and I am very aware of the attitudes in this country and have no difficulty "admitting" anything. Perhaps it is you that is having trouble admitting that there are actually a lot of christians who don't have this attitude.

The statistics on support for GLBT civil rights aren't hard to find and this guy might be a christian, as your changed headline points out, but he doesn't represent all christians.

NALT is a christian project, too.

Did you win? Did they let you back in?

[Goblinmonger]

7. So are you now arguing that we can't "change" the headline?

And I did put the headline at the top of the post.

Sure. Lots of Christians support gay rights. Lots of Christians think like this guy. Lots of Christians have gotten bans on gay marriage passed in a lot of states. What's you point? That there isn't one Christian approach to things? That isn't news to anyone.

You assume I'm not the one that decides who gets let back in. Perhaps you don't know the power structure like you think you do.

[cbayer]

8. You know what, you can change anything you want, I don't give a shit.

Just be willing to take responsibility for it. Frankly, I think that post was pretty much all about changing the headline and nothing else. I'm sure it will garner some more recommendations even though the story itself doesn't really merit any at all.

I think I understand the power structure and the dynamics behind it pretty well. The decision is yours, but I hope you will decide to stay an independent, relatively neutral person.

[Goblinmonger]

10. Thank you for your permission.

I do take responsibility for it. I have yet to see what is incorrect in it. Or are you going to argue that he isn't a Christian pastor?

That you have so quickly come out telling me that I shouldn't change the headlines does show the power structure pretty clearly. You don't care about changing the headlines as much as who it is doing the changing and how it impacts the perception of something you are very quick to defend.

[cbayer]

11. You are welcome.

I'm out of this game, gm. It worked for you for a little bit, but I'm not playing.

I hope your mission was deemed successful and worth it.

[rug]

12. I'm sure "Spreads the Love of Jesus" by urging suicide is a correct statement.

[AtheistCrusader]

9. And that is total bullshit.

Quell surprise that someone not in their right state of mind MIGHT take some heinous shit from the old testament seriously and literally.

Most people with mental health problems are not violent. Never harm other people. In fact, they are statistically MORE LIKELY to be victims of victims of violence, than perpetrators. Significantly so. But when it does happen that someone else gets harmed, invariably there's some commentary in the press release around some religious imagery, however correctly or incorrectly used, being a part of their motivation.

If nothing else, it's a channel of inspiration when certain inhibitions have been removed.

Without fantasy, mythological bullshit like 'demons' to rely on, how many of the people hearing voices or what they describe as demons, would move to act, rather than ask for help? Perception/reality.

I would prefer people having problems not mis-associate it with a cause, and instead, ask for help, ask for guidance, and not jump to myth logically-inspired conclusions of their own.

[trotsky]

3. You should probably ask around before you make an absolute statement like that.

I know of two DUers from direct personal experience with them that do not think religion is EVER to blame for bad things.

[Iggo]

13. Absolutely zero, I'd say.

[hrmjustin]

14. Nobody said this has nothing to do with religion.

[cbayer]

15. No, it's just one of those memes that flourishes around here.

Because some things actually don't have to do with religion and people point that out, there has become a DU legend that religionists will say that nothing bad has anything to do with religion.

It's just a little sharp stick used to provoke others. It's meaningless in the long run, but seems to make some people feel better about their apparent need to see nothing but negative in religion.

I have an idea. When we post a story of religion doing something good, let's add an editorial and sarcastic comment that is has nothing to do with religion.

Or, better yet, let's just ignore it.