There is no such thing as gay people, Los Angeles pastor claims
A popular Los Angeles pastor has claimed that there is no such thing as gay people.
The claim comes from Pastor John MacArthur of the Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, a 3,500-seat megachurch which is popular with evangelicals.
He was answering a question from a gay Christian who was concerned about whether he would get to Heaven when he made the pronouncement, according to the Friendly Atheist blog.
MacArthur insisted: “No one is gay. If you mean by that, that that’s some hardwiring, no one is gay.”
He elaborated: “People commit adultery, they commit sins of homosexuality, they lie, they steal, they cheat.
“It’s like saying, ‘I keep robbing banks, but I’m a robber. I’m a bank robber. What am I gonna do? I’m a bank robber.’ That is not an excuse for what you do.
“Are there certain kind of impulses that lead people in that direction? Yes. But I think one of the really deadly aspects of this is to let people define themselves as gay.
“They are not gay any more than an adulterer is hardwired to be forced by his own nature to commit adultery. Those are all behavioral sins that are condemned in scripture.
“God didn’t hardwire anybody in such a way that they are not responsible for certain behaviors.
“And so we need to cancel that out of the sin list and welcome them into the kingdom of God, because you can’t do anything else?
“But I think we do no service to people who are caught in the vicious sins of homosexuality by letting them define themselves by that sin.”
Check out the clip below:
MacArthur previously advised parents of gay children to disown them and “turn them over to Satan”.
Responding to a letter from a parent whose son had just come out, he said: “If they profess to be a Christian, you have to alienate them.
“You have to separate them. You can’t condone that. It’s inconsistent with Christ.
“So you isolate them, you don’t have a meal with them, you separate yourself from them.
“You turn them over to Satan as it were as scripture says.”
Related: Donald Trump poses in Oval Office with pastor who claims gay people molest children
