Connect with us

Christian Pastors Partying Like It’s 538-332 BC

Published

on

This is the best time in the history of the planet to be homosexual. New York was added to the marriage equality club, “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is now the embarrassing relic of the past, and we have never had a better ally in the White House than President Barack Obama. Public opinion is on our side for the first time in the history of the country, and our movement has finally obtained the momentum necessary to see even broader successes in the future. Things are better than they ever have been, and the future promises profound gains in our struggle for full national equality.

Perhaps due to these victories, it becomes more and more difficult for the gay community to appropriately quantify for the general public the depth of opposition we still face. Our society is a little drunk with progress, and it is easy to mistakenly assume that the fight is all but over. I wish that were true, and I wish all this progress made me feel better about the state of things.

Let’s look at those polls. Back in 1996, according to the New York Times, support for gay marriage was about 25%. I am guessing this number was primarily made up of gay people, hardcore progressives, and the families of those gay people forward thinking enough to cast their prejudices away and embrace equality. The most recent polls show that this has grown to around 54%. Great right? Look at those gains!

 

Genocide. Awesome. Not only do I have to deal with the fact that my boyfriend and I can’t get married because of Jesus reasons, I also get to live in a world where fundamentalist Christians want me and my millions of LGBT brothers and sisters put to death.

 

Except that sucks. 54% fails any class on earth. The same poll shows 40% opposed. It’s these people I am concerned with. If I filled a room with 10 people. 6 of them think I am a person, 4 of them do not. Of those four, one of them is this guy, New Hope Baptist Church Pastor Curtis Knapp.

“[Gays] should be put to death, that’s what happened in Israel, that’s why homosexuality wouldn’t have grown in Israel,” Pastor Knapp says. “It tends to limit conversions, it tends to limit people coming out of the closet. ‘Oh, 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. Say, ‘I can’t believe you, you’re horrible, you are a backwards Neanderthal of a person.’ Is that what they are calling scripture? Is God a Neanderthal backwards morality? Is this his word or not? If it’s his word, he commanded it. It’s his idea, not mine, and I’m not ashamed of it.”

Genocide. Awesome. Not only do I have to deal with the fact that my boyfriend and I can’t get married because of Jesus reasons, I also get to live in a world where fundamentalist Christians want me and my millions of LGBT brothers and sisters put to death. Fantastic news. I can’t adequately describe for straight people the feeling you get when large groups of your fellow citizens, people who you have never even met, much less harmed in any way, passionately advocate for the execution of you or anyone like you. I really didn’t need this in my day.

Really look at that statement. He is saying four things:

  1. Homosexuals should be rounded up and murdered.
  2. The collection and extermination of homosexuals should be the official policy of the United States government. He sounds almost annoyed by the idea that he would personally have to do any of this killing, instead insisting that it is the job of the government to stage this particular public policy. This is apparently one government program he can get behind. Socialized Genocide. What fun he must be at parties.
  3. This would “limit the conversation” and keep people in the closet. I expect this part is likely true.
  4. I may be wrong, but he appears to believe that there are no homosexuals in Israel. This may be a bit of a surprise to the many LGBT Israelis living and working in Israel.

This isn’t just one psychopath’s extreme view. This stuff crops up all the time. Here is another one from last week. This time, the pastor has a plan.

“Build a great, big, large fence — 150 or 100 mile long — put all the lesbians in there,” Pastor Worley says, as his sermon builds. ”Do the same thing for the queers and the homosexuals and have that fence electrified so they can’t get out…and you know what, in a few years, they’ll die out…do you know why? They can’t reproduce!”

Apart from the basic incoherence of this statement, I find myself a little confused about the overall concept. Gay people come largely from straight parents. You can round us all up for today, but we are genetically impossible to entirely eliminate. New models come out all the time. Are fresh homosexuals going to be arrested and sent to this concentration camp upon discovery of their sexuality? Are there going to be special police assigned to “round up the homos” detail, or are the regular beat cops going to be expected to do this dirty work? What of children? If a 13-year old boy comes out of the closet, do you wait until he’s 18 to imprison and then murder him, or do you tear him from the arms of his parents right then? Is there food in this camp, or are we intended to starve to death? I’m just not sure how this is all supposed to work. Details are important.

 

If you are opposed to equal rights for LGBT people on religious grounds, then you must therefore support the part about killing all of us. I didn’t make this up, your guy did, and you can’t have it both ways.

 

Two pastors, two different states. These are simply two examples of anti-gay genocidal religious extremism, only notable due to their close proximity in the news cycle. What percentage of fundamentalist Christians feel this way? If it is a number higher than zero, then Christianity has a problem. Keep in mind, these churches aren’t empty on Sunday. Pastor Worley was immediately defended by his parishioners.

“So he had every right to say what he said, about putting them in a pen, feeding them. The Bible says they’re worthy of death. He only preaches the word,” says Geneva Sims of the Pastor’s plan to kill gay people. Sims is a parishioner of Pastor Worley and fully supports him.

The problem here is that she is absolutely correct. That is exactly what the bible says. I turn to Leviticus 20:13.

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.

That seems pretty clear. The problem for me here is one of intellectual consistency. As religious conservatives can’t wait to remind everyone, the Bible is straight forward about this subject, and those passages are the basis for most of the resistance seen by the 40%. However, if the word of God is basis enough to deny homosexuals the right to marry, then what is to be done about the “put to death” part. Which is it? Is the word of God literal truth, or not? I get that some parts of the Bible are somewhat ignored. The slavery stuff, and the horrifying treatment of women are mostly avoided. People seem to be plenty busy on the sabbath, and there is enough divorce and adultery to fuel 1000 reality shows a minute. But with the Leviticus passage, mainstream conservative political figures are attempting to both disavow, and enforce, two parts of the exact same sentence. If you are opposed to equal rights for LGBT people on religious grounds, then you must therefore support the part about killing all of us. I didn’t make this up, your guy did, and you can’t have it both ways. If I will be forced to live under these rules, despite my not being Christian, then I just want to be able to make sense of them. In these times of oppression at the hands of our Christian rulers, even an Atheist has to be a little bit of a biblical scholar.

 

The Christian community, by not explicitly denouncing these people in large, public, and explicit terms, are tacitly endorsing these extreme views. Every pastor preaching genocide should be met with one hundred preaching love and acceptance.

 

Keep this in mind as you hear these people call for the death of all gays. This kind of hate doesn’t belong only to the Westboro Baptist Church. There are hundreds of Westboro Baptist Churches out there, and these people aren’t kidding. This isn’t hyperbole for them. This is a matter no less important than the preservation of their their immortal soul, and the salvation of what they see as a morally bankrupt society. These people are trying to be good Christians. If we are ever going to have real progress on LGBT issues, we need to be honest about where everyone stands, and who asked them to stand there. Christianity is a large component, justification, and sanctuary for hate based anti-gay bigotry.

Is this all Christians? Of course not. Does this make up all of what Christianity is about? Also no. But those decent, good hearted Christians who take the long view of history by supporting equal rights for all of our nation’s citizens have a responsibility. As a card carrying Sodomite, it is unlikely that anything I say will have much sway over those who wish nothing more than my federally mandated execution. It is up to decent, non-genocidal Christians to clean up this mess. Know that when people like Pastors Worley and Knapp give fiery speeches about how horrible gay people are, and how awesome it would be if the government would exterminate us, this reflects on Christianity as a whole. This dogmatic quagmire isn’t our problem to solve. This war needs to be waged in the pews of every country church, and in the hearts of every decent Christian. The Christian community, by not explicitly denouncing these people in large, public, and explicit terms, are tacitly endorsing these extreme views. Every pastor preaching genocide should be met with one hundred preaching love and acceptance. Christianity must get its house in order. Christians must adapt their dogma for the modern age, or embrace the basic hatred at the heart of those passages. Either the homosexuality part of the Bible is to be ignored, or homosexual genocide is part of the Christian platform. Anything else is either cynical political posturing, or a demonstration of shockingly poor reading comprehension skills. Again, I didn’t make these rules. Your guy did. Either these passages are to be taken seriously, or they aren’t.

Either way, let me know about the fence. If you are going to round up all gay people and throw them in an electrified desert pen, I’d like to pack a few things for what will surely be the party of the century. Think Bonaroo, but with better alcohol. We’ll have people waiting in long, long lines trying to get into our side of the fence.

Benjamin Phillips is a Humor Writer, Web Developer, Civics Nerd, and all around crank that spends entirely too much time shouting with deep exasperation at the television, especially whenever cable news is on. He lives in St. Louis, MO and spends most of his time staring at various LCD screens, occasionally taking walks in the park whenever his boyfriend becomes sufficiently convinced that Benjamin is becoming a reclusive hermit person. He is available for children’s parties, provided that those children are entertained by hearing a complete windbag talk for two hours about the importance of science education, or worse yet, poorly researched anecdotes PROVING that James Buchanan was totally gay. If civilization were to collapse due to zombie hoards or nuclear holocaust, Benjamin would be among the first to die as he has no useful skills of any kind. The post-apocalyptic hellscape has no real need for homosexual computer programmers who can name all the presidents in order, as well as the actors who have played all eleven incarnations of Doctor Who.

There's a reason 10,000 people subscribe to NCRM. You can get the news before it breaks just by subscribing, plus you can learn something new every day.
Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Click to comment
 
 

Enjoy this piece?

… then let us make a small request. The New Civil Rights Movement depends on readers like you to meet our ongoing expenses and continue producing quality progressive journalism. Three Silicon Valley giants consume 70 percent of all online advertising dollars, so we need your help to continue doing what we do.

NCRM is independent. You won’t find mainstream media bias here. From unflinching coverage of religious extremism, to spotlighting efforts to roll back our rights, NCRM continues to speak truth to power. America needs independent voices like NCRM to be sure no one is forgotten.

Every reader contribution, whatever the amount, makes a tremendous difference. Help ensure NCRM remains independent long into the future. Support progressive journalism with a one-time contribution to NCRM, or click here to become a subscriber. Thank you. Click here to donate by check.

News

AOC Says Reflecting Pool Is ‘Swamp’ Because GOP Doesn’t ‘Understand First Thing About Science’

Published

10 hours ago

on

June 24, 2026

By

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) said that the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool has become a “swamp” because the GOP doesn’t understand science.

Ocasio-Cortez made the comments in response to journalist Pablo Manríquez, according to The Hill.

“I mean, when you defund science research, when you de — when you don’t really understand the first thing about science,” she said. “Yeah, they talked a bunch of smack, they said that they had to repaint the pool, and now they’ve turned the place into a swamp. They turned it to an actual swamp.”

READ MORE: Critics Torch Interior’s ‘Propaganda’ for Likening Reflecting Pool Algae to Iran’s Navy

President Donald Trump had often railed against the maintenance of the reflecting pool not being up to snuff, and recently renovated it. But instead of making the water beautiful and clear, the pool has turned solid green from algae blooms. The lining is pulling away and floating up, and this week, three dead ducks were found in the reflecting pool.

 

The deaths of the ducks have led some to speculate that there is blue-green algae in the pool, which is harmful to humans and animals, according to Newsweek. However, aquatic ecology professor Rosalina Stancheva Christova took samples of the water last Tuesday, and determined the algae was a common green variety of the Desmodesmus genus, according to NPR. Desmodesmus is not toxic.

The algae may be harmless, but it is unsightly, particularly in a pool that’s supposed to be crystal clear as a mirror. Part of the issue is that the blue lining that replaced the old liner is too dark.

“The new, darker interior surface is going to absorb more sunlight,” specialist “Swimming Pool Steve” Goodale told NPR. “It is going to result in water that’s warmer, and that ultimately is going to lead to more prolific algae growth.”

The Department of the Interior said that the bloom was due to “residual algae” in the supply lines, according to CNN.

Just as it’s unknown currently what killed the ducks—if it was algae, natural causes or something entirely different—it’s not clear why the liner is peeling off, however some experts have ideas.

Science communicator “The Monarch Diaries,” explored what was perhaps happening in a thread on the social media platform Bluesky. This May, shortly after the renovation process started, they predicted that the lining—Rhino Pipeliner 5000—would be a perfect place to grow algae.

“They’re using Rhino Pipeliner 5000, which freezes as sprayed-on curds almost exactly as it hits the surface. Won’t flow out, flatten, and self-level like standard epoxy or paint would. Under standing water, the orange peel texture is a perfect scaffolding for algae, bacteria, and general bio scum,” they wrote.

They're using Rhino Pipeliner 5000, which freezes as sprayed-on curds almost exactly as it hits the surface. Won't flow out, flatten, and self-level like standard epoxy or paint would.Under standing water, the orange peel texture is a perfect scaffolding for algae, bacteria, and general bio scum

— The Monarch Diaries (@monarchdiaries.bsky.social) 2026-05-20T05:15:26.286Z

In another post they accurately predicted that the liner would start peeling away, but they gave it 5 years rather than a month.

If Rhino Pipeliner 5000 (w custom flag blue tint) is indeed what they're applying, in around 5 years it'll be delaminating and peeling up in massive slimy sheets. So a perfect future metaphor for the Trump yearsinB4 capitol scum pond liner delamination

— The Monarch Diaries (@monarchdiaries.bsky.social) 2026-05-20T05:44:55.270Z

The Monarch Diaries explains that Rhino Pipeliner 5000 is intended for use in pipes, as its name suggests. They say that it “shrinks 1-3% when curing”, perfect for pipes but not for a large pool.

“On a big slab, uh, no it will pull towards the center and delaminate from the substrate at the edges. Plus, applying directly to concrete is a problem. Long story short: Swiss cheese pinhole effect,” they said.

This shit shrinks 1-3% when curing, which in a pipe is exactly what you want. On a big slab, uh, no it will pull towards the center and delaminate from the substrate at the edges.Plus, applying directly to concrete is a problem. Long story short: Swiss cheese pinhole effect. Already flagged.

— The Monarch Diaries (@monarchdiaries.bsky.social) 2026-05-20T05:26:44.551Z

In another thread, they explained that the coating needs to be resprayed within a 4-hour window or it won’t work—but they say that didn’t happen.

“Watching them work, here’s what they did: spray a section, let it sit for hours to days, then spray the next one feathering over the cured edge. This lands FAR outside the 4-hour application overlap window (worse in hot humid weather). The seams never got a chemical weld in the first place,” they wrote.

Watching them work, here's what they did: spray a section, let it sit for hours to days, then spray the next one feathering over the cured edge. This lands FAR outside the 4-hour application overlap window (worse in hot humid weather). The seams never got a chemical weld in the first place. 4/

— The Monarch Diaries (@monarchdiaries.bsky.social) 2026-06-19T17:04:35.373Z

The entire thread is interesting and goes into the physics of what may be happening for those who are interested.

While there is a scientific explanation for what has happened, Trump claimed that the disaster that is the reflecting pool is because of vandals. Six people have been arrested for vandalism, but the government’s own documents show no evidence of vandalism, according to Rolling Stone.

Instead, the supposed “vandals” can be seen in video footage either touching the water or pieces of the plastic liner that have floated to the top of the reflecting pool. Trump has recently accused vandals of cutting the liner with a knife, despite saying the liner could not be cut last month when touting the then-upcoming renovation.

Image via Shutterstock

Continue Reading

HUMILIATING

Trump DOJ Nominee Surprised By Questions About Tweets Insulting Judiciary Committee Members

Published

11 hours ago

on

June 24, 2026

By

Konstantinos Ligris, a DOJ nominee floated by President Donald Trump, seemed surprised when he was asked about tweets insulting two sitting senators serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Trump sent Ligris’s nomination to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Wednesday. If confirmed, Ligris would become an assistant attorney general for the Office of Justice Programs. The OJP is an agency under the Department of Justice best known for controlling criminal justice grants.

In Wednesday’s hearing, in clips surfaced by journalist Aaron Rupar, committee ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) grilled the DOJ nominee about tweets he had written insulting a number of politicians, including Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), as well as police officers as a whole.

READ MORE: ‘Coverup’: Kristol Says a Senate Vote on Blanche Should Be a Vote on Epstein

“I can’t imagine how you can defend some of the things that you’ve been posting for years, some of the things that you’ve written,” Durbin said. “There’s this awful tweet that you put in the record, a matter of public record, now. In light of what you’re seeking here… in 2024, Ligris referred to police officers as ‘dumb as dirt,’ close quote, when writing quote ‘breach of peace, typical cop dumb as dirt.’  And now you’re seeking a position to work with police departments all over the United States, and to give to these officers who risk their lives for you and me, officers which you’ve referred to as dumb as dirt. You’re going to be allocating federal funds. How could you do that?”

Ligris hedged and replied that he wasn’t familiar with the context and purged his tweets every 90 days “for cybersecurity,” but Durbin wasn’t having it. Durbin demanded he address the “dumb as dirt” comment. Ligris again said he didn’t know the context, but said that as “most of my family serves in law enforcement,” he did not think that “law enforcement is dumb as dirt.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) continued this line of questioning, focusing on tweets Ligris made insulting two members of the Judiciary Committee.

“You have tweets that call Donald Trump and Kamala Harris ‘two clowns,’ you have tweets that call Senator Murkowski ‘almost as dumb as Kamala,’ you have tweets that call Senator Collins a ‘fraud.’ You have tweets that call Senator [Alex] Padilla, who sits on this committee, a ‘thug.’ You have tweets that call Senator [Adam] Schiff a ‘fraud.’ He also sits on this committee. And you undertook no preparation to face questions about that as you come before the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Sen. Whitehouse asked.

The DOJ nominee said he hadn’t prepared to answer those questions, and confirmed he did not inform the DOJ about his tweet history. He added that the DOJ “never raised” any questions about the tweets with him. Sheldon then asked if Ligris could be relied on to approve grants filed from the state of California, which Padilla and Schiff represent.

“Having called Senator Padilla a thug at least five times, and Senator Schiff a fraud, what reasonably could they expect about you giving California programs a fair hearing if you’re put in charge of OJP?” Whitehouse asked.

“Every state and every jurisdiction would expect that they would go through the process of applying for grants with the Office of Justice Programs, and reviewed through the process… of applying for grants with the Office of Justice Programs, and those and those grant applications would would be administered and reviewed through the process of the of the department,” Ligris replied.

“Yeah, that’s what they would expect. And then there’d be a guy at the head of the program who thinks that the senators involved are a thug and a fraud. How do you convince us that you’re not going to let that personal bias against these two individuals affect your judgment?” Whitehouse fired back.

“Because I believe that the Office of Justice Programs has a mission to support the entire country, every state and every city, and protect our communities, irrespective of the elected leadership that exists there today or tomorrow,” he said.

“So, ‘just trust me,’ I guess, is what you’re saying,” Whitehouse said.

Ligris’ background is as a real estate attorney, but he went into the technology sector. He is currently a managing director at security consulting firm RoyStark as well as a director at CATIC Financial and CATIC Holdings, a title insurer, according to Criminal Justice Journalists Crime and Justice News Digest. He also founded the digital real estate platform Stavvy Inc., and the legal firm Ligris, which focuses on real estate.

Image via Shutterstock

Continue Reading

IT'S NOT A GAME

Trump Holds Housing Bill Hostage, Mike Johnson Says He’ll Sign It Anyway

Published

14 hours ago

on

June 24, 2026

By

President Donald Trump suddenly announced he was holding hostage a housing bill that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support until the SAVE America Act is passed. But Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Trump will sign it anyway.

Trump was set to sign the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” which passed the Senate Monday 85-5 and the House Tuesday 393-13, on Wednesday afternoon. But those plans were thrown into chaos when he posted to Truth Social that he was cancelling the signing.

“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote. Shortly before on Wednesday morning, he had called for the end to the filibuster in order to pass the act.

READ MORE: ‘A Joke’: Trump’s Possible National Housing Emergency Sparks Fierce Backlash

The SAVE America Act—or Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act—would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote and show photo ID when voting in federal elections. Trump claims the bill is necessary to prevent widespread election fraud, despite there being no evidence of voter fraud on a large scale. Though passed in the House, with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), joining Republicans, the bill has languished in the Senate. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said he will not bring the bill to a vote, because he knows it will not pass.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Johnson dismissed Trump’s bluster, and said that he would “understand it’s a good product” when he goes through the housing bill, and will ultimately sign it.

“When interest rates are high and costs are high, it makes the barrier to entry so high that young families can’t get into houses anymore. That’s not a Republican or Democrat problem, it’s an American problem, so, Americans are fixing it. And so, we’re going to reduce regulation so builders can build. We’re going to limit institutional investing in the housing market. We’re going to bring the American dream back within the grasp of hardworking American families,” Johnson said in a clip surfaced by journalist Aaron Rupar. “The president, when we go through the details of the bill, he’s going to understand that it’s a good product and certainly something that fulfills his promises to bring down the cost,”

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act aims to increase the housing supply and drive down home prices. One of the main ways it does so is to limit institutional investors from purchasing homes, according to CBS News. It will also help local governments convert empty buildings zoned for commercial use into housing, and removes some regulations in building new houses.

Image via Reuters

Continue Reading

Trending

Copyright © 2026 AlterNet Media.