Pastor Jonathan Shelley of Stedfast Baptist Church in Hurst, Texas recently celebrated a gay man’s death at a Pride parade, then told his congregation, “I think it’s great! I hope they all die! I would love it if every f*g would die right now… I really mean it!”
Yesterday, a Christian hate-preacher from Texas celebrated a gay man's death at a Pride parade.
"It's great when trucks accidentally go through those… parades… We can hope for more in the future… I think it's great! I hope they all die!"
(Warning: The language gets worse) pic.twitter.com/3VsYC8KmjA
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) June 21, 2021
He later reiterated that sentiment:
Last week, Pastor Jonathan Shelley celebrated a gay man's death at a Pride parade: https://t.co/LpUdcXtAoa
After a lot of backlash, he just released a video reiterating his call for the government to execute gay people.
It's… really, really awful. pic.twitter.com/NaobcCsim2
— Hemant Mehta (@hemantmehta) June 30, 2021
None of that was surprising coming from the head of a New Independent Fundamental Baptist church. It’s not the first time Shelley has called for executions either.
But yesterday, a group of people in his city decided to protest in a public area outside his church. The group, which was organized on Facebook, wasn’t trying to stop Shelley or change his mind — good luck with that — but they focused their message on people in the community who may not be aware of what Stedfast Baptist is teaching.
I doubt anyone present there expects to change minds of the people inside the church — not in a single day, anyway — but given the bigotry that’s being spread inside the building, it’s important for the public to recognize that one hate-preacher doesn’t represent the community.
Incidentally, Shelley responded to them in one of his sermons, saying only that if protesters really wanted to go after a bad church, they should go after the more moderate ones for not truly preaching the Word of God.
(Images via the No Hate in Hurst Facebook group)
