A Texas megachurch pastor with a reputation for demeaning LGBTQ people was scheduled to deliver the sermon at a private religious service this morning at St. John’s Episcopal Church as part of Donald Trump‘s inauguration, CNN confirmed.
Honored to deliver sermon "When God Chooses a Leader" for Trump/Pence private family service at St. John's Church before #Inauguration. pic.twitter.com/MD0HmyKzTP
— Dr. Robert Jeffress (@robertjeffress) January 20, 2017
Pastor Robert Jeffries, a Southern Baptist who campaigned for Trump and is a member of his evangelical advisory board, leads First Baptist Church in Dallas and has blamed gays for paving the way for the Antichrist.
“What is happening is that we are becoming desensitized to the persecution of Christians just not globally, but also in our Country. The fact is that we are being told that Christians who refuse to serve a wedding cake to a gay couple, that they are extremists, its OK to take their livelihood and shut down their business,” Jeffress said on a Christian talk show promoting his book Countdown to the Apocalypse: Why ISIS and Ebola Are Only the Beginning in 2015. “I believe that we are getting desensitized to that, which will pave the way for that future world dictator, the Antichrist, to persecute and martyr Christians without any repercussions what-so-ever.”
Right Wing Watch notes that gays are a frequent scapegoat in Jeffries’ sermons:
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No fan of the gay community, Jeffress believes that gays and lesbians are “perverse” people who are either pedophiles or likely to abuse children in the future; compared homosexuality to bestiality and called it “a miserable lifestyle”; accused gay people of using “brainwashing techniques” to have homosexuality “crammed down our throats”; said that gay people “are engaged in the most detestable, unclean, abominable acts you can imagine”; predicted that the gay rights movement “will pave the way for that future world dictator, the Antichrist”; and labeled homosexuality a “filthy practice” that will lead to the “implosion of our country.”
Jeffries’ inclusion in the inaugural events is troubling to LGBTQ advocates, who worry about the message it sends for the incoming president to endorse Jeffries views.
“The inauguration and the people invited to pray at the inauguration speak to the values and the agenda of the incoming president,” Ross Murray, director of programs for GLAAD, told CNN. “Jeffress’ anti-LGBTQ message is now going to be tied to this administration and its policies.”
But Jeffries hasn’t just maligned the LGBTQ community. He has also been criticized for insulting Muslims, Jews, Catholics, and Mormons, often portraying the adherents of other faiths and sects of Christianity as “evil” or inspired by Satan.
But an official involved in the planning of Trump’s inauguration told CNN that characterizations of the religious leader as divisive are wrong: “Pastor Jeffress is a unifying figure representing a diverse spectrum of Americans. Any attempt to vilify this religious leader is deeply disappointing and misplaced.”
According to Rev. Luis León, rector of St. John’s Episcopal, a host of other right-wing evangelicals were scheduled to be in attendance, including Liberty University’s Jerry Falwall, Jr., Focus on the Family’s James Dobson, and televangelist James Robison.
The inauguration morning service is a longstanding tradition for incoming presidents, with only Richard Nixon bowing out since Franklin Roosevelt. Despite the guest list for Trump’s inaugural service, St. John’s has a reputation for being accepting of the LGBTQ community and people of other faiths.
h/t LGBTQNation
Xzamilloh
This is where I have to play devil’s advocate for the regressive left. When you look at the bulk of Trump’s cabinet picks and the VP, plus the Republican-controlled Congress lack of impulse control regarding the dismantling of practically every major Obama accomplishment, it’s no wonder many LGBT individuals are scared and why I myself am cautious. The ironic thing is, Trump is a egomaniac that cares more about his public image and everything he has done will ensure he will likely go down as the most hated president in history. Rest well, Nixon
frank fuhrman
trump will make Nixon look like an angel from above.
Jack Meoff
Trump promising to eradicate extremist Islam from the face of the earth is a big call. I wonder if he just put a big red X on his back? The rest of the speech was just rehashing his former rhetoric with no clear plan or direction.
Xzamilloh
Yeah, he’s talking a big game. He’s not gonna undo centuries of unrest in the middle east and he for sure isn’t going to destroy radical Islamists with weapons and threats.
shanfrina
… An ugly, old H8FUL “Closet Case!?!” Typical Southern Baptist!!! This is why Pres. Jimmy Carter left that so-called “Religion!!!”
fur_hunter
The Southern Baptists totally make me shake my head and laugh. They are against EVERYTHING that isn’t Southern Baptist. They HATE EVERYONE that isn’t Southern Baptist, saying they are all going to hell. I heard enough of their rhetoric as they yelled and screamed at us while I marched in the Gay Pride Parades in Atlanta. Yeah. Check out the Westboro Baptist Church. You can see them online. Such a wonderful group of caring and understanding folks. If those are the kind of folks going to heaven….I don’t want to go there.
Dez
How would he know if it’s a miserable lifestyle?
They started calling us GAY because we are HAPPY to be queer.
fur_hunter
Dez….I believe he is a latent and closeted case who hates himself and his ranting is how he is hopefully atoning. He is like Paul, who wrote Romans, in the ‘BuyBull’, who I also believe was a latent and closeted case. That’s why he wrote the stuff he did. It’s like the old Shakespearean line from Hamlet. “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.” In this case…two ladies.
Shannon1981
Oh my god. Probably hand picked by Mike Pence. This is no accident. They are sending us a very clear message. #RESIST
Heywood Jablowme
Yes, I ruined America and I’d do it again. Bwa-ha-ha!
Ken A.
Love how he thinks of himself a leader? Egomaniac. What they say or beleive in has no bearing on me. False doctrines based religion. All one has to do is do a little research, read within context and one can see what it says and what they say it says are two different things. The Bible is a wonderful anthology writen across thousands of years–there are a few hundred years between Genisis chapter 1 and Genisis chapter two so its not really chronological in that respect and also different portions were written in different cultures. With that said. No need for hysterics or outrage yet. These people think they now have the upper hand.
He BGB
Bishop Eddie Long who died the other day said all the same things basically then he was was found out about giving teenage boys gifts and money and jobs and vacations, waiting for them to turn 16 andthen having sex with them. His last photos shows he lost alot of weight and the obit says he died of an “agressive cancer”. When I read about these pastors zeroing in on gay people it just makes me wonder.
fur_hunter
Do you know I was living in Atlanta in 2010 when all that $$$$ hit the fan. I told one of the Fox news casters, that used to come into where I worked, that no straight man sends muscle posed photo to gay men. I said Eddie Long is gay as a goose. She laughed. I really loved watching him during interviews trying to make all sorts of excuses and backtracking as well as to his congregation. It was laughable…even to straight people.
gaym50ish
Initially, Long said he would fight the charges as David fought Goliath. But his church settled the cases out of court for an estimated $15-25 million, then tried to get back the initial million-dollar payment when the accusers violated a confidentiality agreement. To me, that means that hushing up the scandal was a more important motive for the payout than was compassion for the victims.
blackhook
Just the latest in a long line of closeted homophobes who are obsessed with THE GAY AGENDA …Larry Craig, “Professor” George “Lifting My Luggage” Rekers, Ted Haggard, the list goes on, and on, and on… It’ll be no surprise when he is outed by his own rentboy…
fur_hunter
Wouldn’t that be a hoot?! I would love it to happen, just like Bishop Eddie Long, the megachurch minister in Conyers, Georgia, back in 2010. I lived in Atlanta then and it was a riot watching him in interviews trying to explain why he sent muscle posed photos to gay men. Especially after seeing the interviews with the gay guys. Yeah. I would love to see Robert Jeffress outed by some gay guy. It would be wonderful Karma.
Eye of the Beholder
Any person who refuses to bake an LGBT cake isn’t a Christian. Any person who refuses to bake an LBGT cake isn’t even a Christian Extremist. They’re weak horrible people using religion as a cover.
fur_hunter
They are ignorant, intolerable bigots who are totally uneducated to the issues of homosexuality and transgender. They are too lazy to do the research to find out the true facts and they believe a bunch of words written by men, in a book written and organized some 1500 years ago. And if they say it is the word of God, ask them who told them it was the word of God. If God came down and told them, they need professional help. If they say their minister and/or people in the church said it was. Your response is…..MEN LIE!!!! And if they use THAT BOOK as the source, it would be like a murderer saying he is innocent. Sorry. That doesn’t fly either.
captainburrito
They are also not very pious in the first place if they sell wedding cakes since those are not mentioned in the bible but are derived from a roman pagan tradition.
1EqualityUSA
Chip and Johanna Gaines go to this man’s church. Even though they both came out as inclusive, I haven’t been able to feel the same about these two HGTV darlings since. When my spouse bought a pinecone wreath from them this year, my skin crawled a bit. I want to compost the thing. I have cable in the mountains, though TV is unplugged and dormant here. It is just as well.
GayEGO
Pastor Robert Jeffries is such a dufus, it is the religious extremists like ISIS who are causing crimes against humanity. Jeffries must be homophobic!
James Hart
There are a lot more Evangelicals (roughly 40%) in this country than there are gays (roughly 3). Smart political move on Trump’s behalf!
loulou2lou
We’re not filthy.Some of us wash under our skin under our arms up our cracks behind our ears and between our toes.We’re not filthy.