That they are worthy of death! These people should be put to death!

Every single homosexual in our country should be charged with the crime, the abomination of homosexuality, that they have. They should be convicted in a lawful trial. They should be sentenced with death. They should be lined up against the wall and shot in the back of the head! That’s what God teaches. That’s what the Bible says.

You don’t like it? You don’t like God’s Word, because that is what God says…”

There is a lot to unpack in this deranged statement. I could waste my time here arguing that this passage in Romans is grossly misinterpreted by Mr. Awes. I could argue that man wrote this and not God. I could talk about the character of Christ and I could try and show how this quote does not coincide with Jesus. Yet, I’m not going to do any of that in this essay, because, again, it’s a waste of time.

 I will however, point out that what Mr. Awes said in this sermon is not fringe. It’s not the belief of an off shoot Christian cult. This psychopathic statement is the result of what is being taught in churches all over America, specifically protestant/evangelical churches.

 Is it this direct and in your face?

 Somewhat.

 Yet, if pastors said this every Sunday, I doubt they would maintain church attendance and membership. You see, Mr. Dawes said the quiet part out loud. He spoke the truth about his religion’s beliefs. He isn’t lying here. This is what his religion believes. However, too many people do not take the time to examine truly what it is they are being taught and/or what that indoctrinated belief produces in the individual and society.

I am a victim of this indoctrinated belief. I was taught that being gay is a sin and an abomination of God. I started out in life an innocent little girl that loved everyone, and this indoctrination put hate into my heart. There was a time in my life I would have agreed with Mr. Dawes, and that makes me sick to no end.

 In 10th grade, we were discussing the AIDS crisis in Biology class. I raised my naive little Christian hand and suggested we put all the gays on an island so that the disease would die off. I said those words in front of my entire class because that was the result of being taught that being gay is a sin and an abomination of God. The indoctrinated belief manifested itself into me believing that gays deserved to go die on an island somewhere. They deserved it right? That’s what the Bible says.

 Ten years ago, I found a paper I had written in high school about the evils of being gay. It expressed similar sentiments as Mr. Dawes. The entire paper was disgusting. I cannot even fathom that I ever wrote such a horrendous paper. Yet, I did. My paper was the result of the indoctrinated belief that being gay is a sin and an abomination of God. It was the result of brainwashing to hate others in the name of God because that’s what the Bible says.

Thankfully, I grew to seriously examine this belief. There came a time when I had to make a choice whether I was going to remain in that belief, or was I going to leave it?

I saw what the indoctrinated belief was doing to society. I saw the suicide rates of LGBTQ+. I observed children being abandoned and kicked out of their homes for being LGBTQ+. I learned about the abuse of conversion therapy programs. I witnessed the aftermath of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando.

 Most importantly, I became friends with humans that were LGBTQ+. I grew to truly love people that were LGBTQ+.

I left the indoctrinated belief because it is evil. The fruit that the indoctrinated belief produces is evil. The fruit of the words spoken by Mr. Awes from the pulpit in Stedfast Baptist Church, in Texas,

 is evil.