CAPE CORAL, Fla. — A Cape Coral pastor is coming under fire nationwide after appearing to support the death penalty for gay people.
This matter is all playing out on Twitter. Pastor Tom Ascol of the Grace Baptist Church, who offered a prayer at the governor’s inauguration, is now caught up in an anti-gay law in Uganda that is being condemned by conservative U.S. Senator Ted Cruz.
Ascol admits that he has been met with a firestorm of controversy since sparring with Senator Cruz over a law in Uganda that calls for criminalizing the gay lifestyle, even calling for the death penalty in some cases.
“I think homosexuality should be prohibited in a society that is going to flourish,” said Pastor Ascol.
He appeared, by many, to support executing gay people citing an Old Testament bible quote on Twitter.
“It says that any man who lies with a man as he lies with a woman is to be put to death because it’s an abomination of God,” Ascol stated.
He was reacting to a tweet from conservative Senator Ted Cruz, who called the Uganda law horrific and wrong.
When asked directly by NBC2 News if he supported the law that calls for the death penalty for homosexuals, Ascol responded, “I would say as an American living in a constitutional republic, I wouldn’t want to argue for the execution of homosexuals. I wouldn’t do that.”
However, he believes homosexuality should be considered a crime.
“I think we were better off as a society when sexual immorality of every sort was illegal,” Ascol said.
Reverend Craig Cranston of St. John The Apostle Church in Fort Myers condemned the pastor’s approach.
“Is he loving us as LGBTQ people and the community by saying we need to be arrested or criminalized,” Reverend Cranston asked.
“It’s all about how we care for one another. What did Jesus say? Love one another, love yourself and love God,” Cranston concluded.
Governor Ron DeSantis’ office did not respond with a comment on the pastor’s controversial remarks.
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