A Georgia pastor has posted a sign outside his church that quotes Leviticus, say he’ll defend his religious beliefs to the death – not that anyone would think of asking him to do so.
Pastor Robert Lee of the Ten Commandments Church in Milledgeville, Georgia recently changed the sign outside his church to one that has even residents from this small town of about 18,000 feeling uncomfortable.
“Homosexuality Is A Death Worth Crime!,” Lee’s sign reads, with a Leviticus notation attached for good measure – in case anyone was wondering.
Pastor Lee tells local news station WGXA that he’s merely stating his religious beliefs, sees nothing wrong with quoting the bible or posting it on a sign for all to see.
“Homosexuality is an abomination, and the Bible says that homosexuality is a death worthy crime,” Lee says. “The institution of marriage was instituted by God and it should not be changed by people who deserve not to live,” Lee insists.
Georgia has no protections for LGBT people at the state level, although several cities and counties have nondiscrimination ordinances which include sexual orientation, and some which also include gender identity.Â
Regardless, Pastor Lee’s sign would not be subject to those ordinances, were he in one of those areas.Â
But a recent “religious freedom” bill that ultimately failed to advance in the Georgia legislature this year after outrage in Indiana would have made certain Pastor Lee’s sign is not only protected, but effectively state-sanctioned.
Not all the local residents are pleased with the Ten Commandments Church’s sign.
“This is the first time that I have ever seen anything that actually crossed the line and was inferring death upon a group,” Robert Owens, who has gay and lesbian relatives, told WGXA. “If it said being bald or blind or short or fat or blue-eyed or red head, if any of those were death worthy crimes, if they were causing people think, ‘wow those people really need to die’ that’s a terrible thing, that’s crossing a line.”
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