An Oklahoma preacher is raging against laws in the United States that protect members of the LGBTQ+ community from hate crimes.
Brother Salvador Alvarez of the Stedfast Baptist Church in Oklahoma City, claimed the government should be executing people for very specific "sins" and hate crime laws are discriminatory against religious people.
Naturally, he believes all this makes him very close to Jesus.
Alvarez tried to argue hate crime laws prevent him from living out a fulfilling religious life.
Especially since this would prevent:
"...violent attitudes towards the f****ts and sodomites."
Reminder, this man who claims to be a Christian thinks stopping violence is a bad thing.
His hate-filled sermon included many more slurs and violent incitements against gay people.
It's difficult to believe someone can be so blatant in their hate.
Alvarez is a part of the Stedfast Church, an organization based in Texas.
The Texas church is run by preacher Jonathan Shelley, infamous for claiming he wished all gay people would die. His hate-filled rants are often blocked from websites due to their incendiary rhetoric.
This kind of continued rhetoric is believed to be causing people—especially younger people—to leave religious institutions for different kinds of community. It's a lot easier to feel like you belong when the leader isn't spewing bigotry.
The video of Alvarez was spread far and wide, eventually finding its way to Reddit.
"Err, 'thou shalt not kill'?" - Vorax-the-despoiler
"Oh, you haven't seen the subtext that says 'unless I say otherwise because I'm totes bro's with this god fellow, and know what I'm talking about'". - Sprinklypoo
"The Bible says that people working on the sabbath should be stoned to death, but I don't see this guy or others of his ilk proposing that the government execute the waitresses at their favorite Sunday-after-church restaurant." - cbessette
"If he believed in personal freedom he would stay out of other people's lives." - alvarezg
It's not just the Stedfast Church turning people off to religion. Pastor Roger Jimenez of the Verity Baptist Church gained online notoriety when he claimed God wanted parents to spank their children.
This goes against studies on the psychological effect corporal punishment has on developing minds.
note on @mychal3ts/Threads post