There's sadly nothing shocking about a minister spewing anti-gay hate like this from the pulpit:
“To be . . . have a tendency to be effeminate or homosexual is just as wicked as to have a tendency to be a womanizer . . . What is our response? . . . 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.
The only thing that makes this particular instance interesting is the minister's name.
Leatherman
His name is Leatherman!
Leatherman: I Long To Kill Gays “In A Fleshy Way”
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.
Generally, when a preacher uses the term "the flesh," he is referring to the physical desires of the human body. Not only sexual desires, but also the desire for food, drink, comfort, etc. But mostly sex. So, I guess Rev. Leatherman feels a stirring in the flesh when he thinks about the gay?
LeatherMan!
Pastor Dennis Leatherman and the Mountain Lake Independent Baptist Church never have, do not now, and never will advocate the incarceration, mistreatment, and especially not the killing of homosexuals (or any other group of people).
And I think that's a pretty good indication that you're doing a good job of spreading the Love of God, when you have to issue a statement saying you're not in favor of mass murder.I know Jesus was constantly being misunderstood like that. His disciples would say "Rabbi, here are the five loaves and two fishes. You do want us to murder these 5,000 people, right?" And Jesus would be all like "Murder? No, I said feed them! What the Hell? Well, it's an honest mistake and no harm done. I guess I'll have to really enunciate from now on!"
Their site also contains a transcript of the sermon in question, which includes tidbits like:
And so I am going to speak tonight on homosexuality and the Bible. I hate even talking
about this behind the pulpit, to be honest with you. I feel dirty just talking about it.
Hmm, I wonder why. . .
I grew up outside of Philadelphia, just north of Philly and little suburb and sometimes we would go down into the city for various reasons for different things. And there were certain parts of the city where you just tried to avoid. They were dirty. They were dangerous. They
were very unpleasant. And so you tried to stay away from them.
. . . And we would drive down and we would get through some dangerous and nasty parts of the city and mom would say, “Don’t look at anybody. Just stare straight ahead. Don’t look at them.”
Why? Because it was just dangerous. You could get hurt
Oh, the number of injuries caused every year by looking at dirty people!
“Homosexuality is wrong. Amen, preach it. We need to put them all in prisons and
we ought to fence them in.” The same judgment on sodomy, God says the same
consequences for sodomites is the exact same thing that should be for
adulterers. Come on, now, let’s be consistent.
So, all the adulterers should be penned up together? You know what that sound like to me?
Also, there's a weird shot at Seinfeld:
"But before they lay down, the men of the city, even the men of Sodom, compassed the
house round. . . And they called unto Lot, and said unto him, Where are the men which came in to thee this night?Bring them out unto us, that we may know them.”32
. . . That word “know,” get this, that word “know” comes from the Hebrew
word (yaw-dah’). Ever heard that term? Yada, yada, yada. It is a Hebrew word for
sexual intercourse.
Don’t tell me these yard birds on TV that make that phrase popular did not know what
that term meant. Don’t tell me that. They are Jewish.
I Knew!
Speaking of phrases and their origins, the term "Yardbird" is an old slang term for prisoner. It's like saying "Jailbird." It refers to the exercise yard most prisons have. So, why refer to the cast and writers of Seinfeld as "yardbirds?"
Oh, right!
Oh, and just for the record, here is an actual photo of rev. Dennis Leatherman and his beard:
