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The Baptist Pastor Who Cheered Orlando Murders Isn't Alone

The Baptist Pastor Who Cheered Orlando Murders Isn't Alone

Roger Jimenez

Orlando is better off without LGBT people, the pastor said on a videotaped sermon.

True
lucasgrindley

The latest "kill the gays" pastor is by no means alone.

YouTube today took down video of a Sacramento preacher who said with incredible clarity that LGBT people deserved to be murdered in Orlando. But don't stop there, said Roger Jimenez in the sermon at Verity Baptist Church.

"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," he said, according to clips shared by KOVR, the CBS station in Sacramento.

Jimenez seemed outraged that anyone would expect Christians to stand in solidarity with those who were killed in the massacre early Sunday.

"Are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today?" he said in the sermon. "Um, no, I think that's great! I think that helps society. I think Orlando, Fla., is a little safer tonight."

He added, "We don't need to do anything to help. As far as I'm concerned, Orlando is just a little safer tonight."

Jimenez, who called the victims "vile, perverted predators," is being treated by the media as a lone voice in religion. And while he's surely the minority, he's not alone.

On the most reliably extreme end, Westboro Baptist Church followed the shooting news by creating a song, called "Shooters Keep Comin' Around." They sang, "And the shooters keep coming around in the cities that you love. Much blood flowing in the streets bringing God's wrath from above."

On the day of the shooting, Pride celebrations were scheduled in several major cities across the country. As any LGBT person would expect by now, they were greeted by celebrants but also by self-proclaimed ministers holding megaphones.

"Shame on you!" they can be seen shouting during L.A. Pride at about the 2:50 mark in this video. "Oh, you homos are going to be so depressed when Donald Trump wins. What are you gonna do? What's a homo gonna do?"

Then there's the likes of Kevin Swanson, the pastor who held a presidential forum in Iowa and wondered aloud about killing gay people, concluding he should allow time for them to repent rather than putting them to death now.

Swanson shared that stage with Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who essentially came in second place for the Republican Party's presidential nomination.

Another former Republican presidential candidate, Pat Robertson, was on television with another less-than-compassionate reaction to the murders of 49 people in Orlando. He said gays and Islamists are allies, "so let them kill themselves." The so-called Christian Broadcasting Network, where he works, said Robertson meant "kill" only politically.

Here's that quote directly, though: "The left is having a dilemma of major proportions, and I think for those of us who disagree with some of their policies, the best thing to do is to sit on the sidelines and let them kill themselves." Even if it were meant in the abstract, Robertson took some satisfaction in extreme religions condemning homosexuality. "The fact that this Islamic gentleman opens fire in a gay nightclub and kills almost 50 homosexuals, that says something and tells the fact that Islam is against homosexuality, so the liberals are going to be scrambling to find some rationale. I think they're going to have a hard time doing it."

lucasgrindley
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Lucas Grindley

Lucas Grindley is VP and Editorial Director for Here Media, which is parent company to The Advocate. His Twitter account is filled with politics, Philip Glass appreciation, and adorable photos of his twin toddler daughters.
Lucas Grindley is VP and Editorial Director for Here Media, which is parent company to The Advocate. His Twitter account is filled with politics, Philip Glass appreciation, and adorable photos of his twin toddler daughters.