A Sacramento pastor is receiving backlash after video of his sermon discussing the Orlando massacre surfaced online.
In a YouTube video uploaded by Verity Baptist Church, Pastor Roger Jimenez praises the massacre of 49 people at Pulse night club in Orlando, Florida and claims to be upset that the gunman did not finish the job.
The video, which was removed by YouTube on Tuesday for violating their policy on hate speech, has already caught the attention of people intolerant of this pastor’s sermon.
“As Christian’s we shouldn’t be mourning the deaths of these 50 sodomites,” Jimenez said. “Because the bible teaches that these sodomites are all, every single one of them, a predator.”
Known for his “red-hot preaching,” Jimenez is the pastor of Sacramento’s Verity Baptist Church that began in his living room in 2010 and now has over 200 worshipers every Sunday morning.
After waking up to the news of the massacre in Orlando, Florida, Jimenez took the opportunity to preach statistics on gays and lesbians and defend his perspective on why Christian’s shouldn’t mourn the massacre.
In the sermon Jimenez continued to quote directly from the New International Version Bible explaining that gays and lesbians are defined as abusers and pedophiles.
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One of Jimenez’ main sources of evidence for his claims came from Judges 19:22-30, a story describing the “vile” habits of homosexuals.
“Our society wants to classify everybody, it’s LBGT whatever,” Jimenez explained. “This passage proves they all go both ways, they’re all a bunch of perverts! The classification is this, they’re unnatural.”
Throughout the heated 45-minute sermon that has received backlash from the general public, Jimenez calls for another massacre and reminds the worshipers that this isn’t just his opinion, it’s the word of the Bible.
“Aren’t you sad that 50 sodomites died,” Jimenez asked. “It’s like the equivalent of asking me, ‘Hey are you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today?’ No. I think that’s great, I think that helps society. I think Orlando, Florida is a little safer tonight.”
Jimenez ended his sermon reminding those in the church that Christians should have no need to mourn the deaths, claiming that they had it coming.
“Every less sodomite there is in this country is better for our country,” Jimenez concluded.
YouTube users have responded furiously to a majority of the videos found on the Church’s page. Several have taken it upon themselves to rate them on Facebook, explaining their anger at the ignorance in his sermons.
“This man does not know God, he is siding with terrorism....clearly full of self-hate, the blind leading the blind," Theresa Krause wrote on the church's Facebook page. "I hope one day he comes to know God, God is love. He is very far away from that at this point.”
Another commenter expressed their disgust in the pastor's sermon.
“This pastor is no man of God! He is hateful and promoting violence against human beings!" Maryann Ciali wrote on the church's Facebook page. "I am of Christian faith and we believe in gods love toward all mankind. So disgusted with this pastor.”
Verity Baptist Church didn't immediately return a request for comment.
