An antigay pastor from New York has resigned after been put on leave earlier this week when video of him encouraging men in his congregation to rape their wives hit the internet.
Burnett Robinson is, er, was a senior pastor of Grand Concourse Seventh-day Adventist, a church located in the Bronx. On November 13, he delivered a sermon about wifely submission, during which he told men “the best person to rape is your wife.”
Related: Pastor says gay people kill themselves as they “know it’s wrong” and “hate doing it”
“In this matter of submission, I want you to know upfront ladies, that once you get married, you are no longer your own,” he preached. “You are your husband’s. You understand what I’m saying?”
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“I emphasize that because I saw in court the other day on TV where a lady sued her husband for rape. And I would say to you gentlemen, the best person to rape is your wife. But then it has become legalized.”
Robinson was preaching from a passage from the New Testament’s Letter to the Ephesians, in which the Apostle Paul says, “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” Evidently, in his warped interpretation of the Bible, this is God’s way of giving men permission to sexually assault women, preferably their wives.
Video of the sermon was uploaded to YouTube, where it quickly went viral and sparked an uproar. In response, the Greater New York Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church issued a statement saying Robinson had been placed on administrative leave. (Evidently, encouraging people to commit acts of spousal rape isn’t grounds for immediate dismissal.)
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“Pastor Robinson deeply regrets the statement and knows it caused injury and has given an unqualified apology,” it read.
This morning, it put out a second statement saying he had officially resigned, noting, “The views he expressed are wrong and not accepted by our church. Rape and sexual assault of women are crimes and should always be treated as such.” (No shit!)
Robinson hasn’t responded to any requests for comment.
We can’t help but wonder how long it will be before he’s invited onto Fox News to discuss being “canceled” by the “woke mob” for his “religious views.”
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
Mister P
Truth is strange. I can’t make this stuff up.
Seth
Religions just hate it ever so when one of their own says the quiet part out loud.
Bosch
It’s no surprise that homophobes have dubious sexual morals. Just the fact that they’re homophobes indicates that in a sexual context, they don’t quite know right from wrong, good from evil.
Mr. Stadnick
Religion is all about controlling people.
Mack
The pastor may have said it and it was recorded but the Seventh Day Adventists pretty much believes it. I lived in a SDA household for 3+ years and they’re pretty much to the extreme.
Openminded
They are not alone. Try talking to a Southern Baptist Preacher about wifely duties.
jsthib
I suppose he thought it was better than raping one’s mother, sister, or daughter; but dude! still wrong and against the law in every(?) state. Then it got me to wondering what type of flock he leads that he needs to be re-directing rapists.