Can we all agree to stop pretending there is any real difference between American Christian Fundamentalist belief and Islamic Fundamentalist belief? Religious extremism leads to the same place. The only difference is that American Christian Fundamentalists are slightly more attuned to the fact that they live in a pluralistic, secular, Western society where they really ought not step into full genocide territory. I have long contended that if the laws in this country were different, if we didn’t have a Constitution, if Fundamentalist theocrats had their way, it wouldn’t be that long before the violence started.

Portrait of Seneca, Kansas, pastor Curtis Knapp, of the New Hope Baptist Church:

“They should be put to death. That’s what happened in Israel. That’s why homosexuality wouldn’t have grown in Israel. 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. [You say], ‘oh, I can’t believe you you’re horrible. You’re a backwards neanderthal of a person.’ Is that what you’re calling scripture? Is God a neanderthal backwards.. in his morality. Is it 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.”

All righty! Listen to that one, below, then we’ll get to the next pastor who thinks it would be great to kill us.

Dennis Leatherman, Baptist pastor of Oakland, Maryland, what have you got to say?

“To be… have a tendency to be effeminate or homosexual is just as wicked as to have a tendency to be a womanizer. Sinful nature does not justify sinful behavior. Now what is our take? What is our response? I appreciate your bearing with me tonight. First of all, there is a danger of reacting in the flesh, of responding not in a scriptural, spiritual way, but in a fleshly way. Kill them all. Right? I will be very honest with you. My flesh kind of likes that idea. But it grieves the Holy Spirit. It violates Scripture. It is wrong.”

It “grieves the Holy Spirit,” but man he’d like to kill him some fags! Is that an accurate assessment, Pastor Dennis?

The love of Jesus just FLOWS through these folks, doesn’t it?

This is only going to get worse as we get closer and closer to full equality.