An Indiana church is urging the Trump administration to "execute" members of the LGBTQ community because "the Bible teaches that those people are worthy of death," according to WISH-TV 8 in Indianapolis.
In a sermon titled, "Pray the Gay Away," Stephen Falco, an evangelical preacher with the Sure Foundation Baptist Church, yelled from the pulpit, "They're all a bunch of f-----, that want to walk around, come on our streets, and demand our children. And we should look them in the eye and say, 'No, you're not going to have our children!'"
The event called "Men's Preaching Night" was live-streamed on the church's Facebook account, according to the report.
When asked to respond to Falco's inflammatory remarks, the church said in a statement that the preacher was "only calling for the death penalty and suicide for the actual sodomites (homosexuals). The Bible teaches that those people are worthy of death. They are supposed to be executed by the government. We are not to take the law into our own hands."
One member of the LGBTQ community told WISH-TV, "Children are targeted silently and violently. These children don't know social constructs until we teach them that. And, so, when we're teaching them through hate and disguising it as scripture, what we're doing is abusing them."
Reporter Kyla Russell said the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis called the message "theologically irresponsible and pastorally dangerous," adding that they "stand for dignity, inclusion, and justice for all people, including their LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters."
