Gays Are Gay Because They ‘Were Sexually Molested When They Were Children’ Says Top Baptist

Of the more than 317 million people in America, the number of those who are either atheists, agnostics, or don’t subscribe to any particular religion is growing rapidly. But almost four out of every five Americans still identify as Christian. The largest “brand” of Christianity, if you’ll excuse the analogy, is Protestant. Of those, the Southern Baptists (SBC) are the largest group, with more than 16 million in the U.S. alone.

One of the most powerful Southern Baptist leaders is Richard Land.

Land, who is now 68 years old, was president of The Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) of the SBC. He hosted a radio show there until a plagiarism scandal and racial comments about Trayvon Martin brought him down.

Today, Land is the president of the Southern Evangelical Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Yesterday, Family Research Council president Tony Perkins asked Dr. land to sit in for him on Perkins’ Washington Watch radio show.

Land — one of the most respected and well-known names in religion in America, shared with the audience his personal beliefs about gay people.

Dr. Land told his audience that “the dirty little secret that nobody wants to talk about is that a high percentage of adult male homosexuals in America were sexually molested when they were children.”

Of course, he didn’t define “high percentage,” but it’s safe to say that’s false.

Land also suggested that many gays are pedophiles and recruit children into homosexuality by raping them — by sexually abusing them.

That, of course, is false as well.

Listen:

https://w.soundcloud.com/player/?url=https%3A//api.soundcloud.com/tracks/145001781&color=ff5500

“Land’s claim contradicts findings of the American Psychological Association, which notes that ‘no specific psychosocial or family dynamic cause for homosexuality has been identified, including histories of childhood sexual abuse. Sexual abuse does not appear to be more prevalent in children who grow up to identify as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, than in children who identify as heterosexual,'” Right Wing Watch noted.

Last month, Land also guest hosted for Perkins and told the audience that Barack Obama and his presidency are the price Americans are paying because abortion is legal. He also claimed that God will continue to punish Christians until they repent, and that God will “seek to convict” people who are “in an active homosexual relationship.”

Last year, Land told CNN that allowing gays into the Boy Scouts will lead to sexual abuse. And in 2012, Land said that “the devil takes pleasure in anything that causes destruction in human society and the homosexual lifestyle does cause destruction.”

Land is the author of The Divided States of America: What Liberals and Conservatives Get Wrong about Faith and Politics and Real Homeland Security: The America God Will Bless.