Friday, March 29, 2024

Anti-Gay Pastor Under Fire for Praising Orlando Massacre: ‘Tragedy is That More of Them Didn’t Die’

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*A Sacramento pastor has gone viral today after a video of his latest sermon praising the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history was posted to YouTube.

During his sermon Sunday at Verity Baptist Church, Pastor Roger Jimenez applauded the massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Fla, referring to the victims as “sodomites.”

“I think that’s great. I think that helps society,” Jimenez said of the massacre. “I think Orlando, Florida is a little safer tonight. The tragedy is that more of them didn’t die. I’m kind of upset he didn’t finish the job.”

Jimenez began the sermon saying he had intended to preach on another topic, but after hearing news of what happened the night before in Orlando, felt compelled to speak on “the biblical response” to the Pulse nightclub massacre.

“There’s no tragedy,” Jimenez said. “I wish the government would round them all up, put them up against a firing wall, put a firing squad in front of them, and blow their brains out.”

The 45-minute sermon has drawn national outrage from faith and civic leaders far and wide.

Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson condemned the sermon on Twitter. “The hateful comments made by a preacher in Sacramento do not reflect Christian values and have no place in our society,” Johnson wrote, accompanied by the hashtag “standwithorlando.”

YouTube removed the video Tuesday morning, saying it violated the company’s ban on hate speech.

On a page of its website titled “What We Believe,” Verity Baptist Church explains that the congregation considers homosexuality to be “an abomination before God which God punishes with the death penalty.” The page also stipulates that gay individuals are not allowed to attend or join the church.

Members of the Sacramento LGBT community and their allies are planning to protest Verity Baptist Church on June 19. The church, according to its website, opens at 10 a.m., and protestors plan to assemble around the entrance at 9:45 a.m. with signs, according to the Facebook event for the protest.

Watch a CBS News report below:

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