Faithful Word Baptist Church pastor Steven Anderson has claimed that the catastrophic bushfires in Australia are down to officials blocking him from entering. (Brett Hemmings/Getty Images)
As a surge of flames creep onto crowded villages and costal getaways in Australia resulting in the deaths of dozens of citizens, a Christian hate preacher has claimed that, of course, the gays are to blame.
Using the tried and true tactic of claiming gay people have the ability to control weather phenomena, Steven Anderson, who once called for the execution of gay people by stoning and openly celebrated the massacre at Orlando’s Pulse gay club, has now said the bushfires are the “judgment of God” for “banning and deporting preachers of the Gospel.”
Last year, Anderson was banned from Australia – the 33rd country he has been barred from entering – and this, definitely not climate catastrophe, is why the continent is being ravaged by flames.
American pastor being banned from Australia is the reason why the country is being devastated by calamitous fires.
His rap sheet of hateful, anti-LGBT comments has seen the leader of the Faithful Word Baptist Church be banned in all 26 of Europe’s Schengen states, Botswana, Jamaica, Ireland, South Africa, the UK and Canada.
“Maybe if Australia weren’t banning and deporting preachers of the Gospel, they wouldn’t be under the judgment of God,” the preacher’s Arizona-based church wrote in a Facebook post on January 3.
A link to a sermon delivered by Anderson was also on the post, which sees the pastor claim that natural disasters are used by God “as a punishment or judgement”.
However, the post does not indicate whether the church is supporting bushfire relief.
Australia’s 2016 census identified that 52.1 per cent of Australians classify themselves Christian.
So, if the gays aren’t causing the Austrlian bushfires, what is?
Once lush green lawns and white picket fences reduced to ash, skies coloured red, wildlife threatened to near extinction, countless people evacuated from their homes.
Fire season has always seen the Australian bush burn. But as temperatures crawl upwards due to climate catastrophe, as well as three years of droughts, this season has been been one of the most deadly ever observed.
Searing heat and winds have propelled fires across large swatches of the country as the bushfires have claimed 24 lives.
And with arid conditions on the horizon, experts say the fires will only be ignited.
While others note that such fires will become more frequent and even more intense, leading to critics slamming the conservative government for its sluggish response to the national emergency.