Christian pastor admits praying for suicide of gay author
By Sam Rigby
A Christian pastor in New Zealand has admitted praying for the suicide of a gay author who wrote to him about his book.
Writer Jim Majoram (pictured) contacted a number of churches in the Auckland area about his autobiography, which focuses on his struggle with his sexuality as a fundamentalist Christian.
Logan Robertson, of Westcity Bible Baptist Church, responded by email, saying: “I pray that you will commit suicide, you filthy fag.”
Responding to the controversy caused by his statement, Robertson told NZME: “I didn’t tell him to go and commit suicide. I said I prayed that he would.
“All I did was write what I wrote, and then I prayed about it that he would, and that’s it. There’s nothing more to say.”
Majoram said that the response “epitomises” the attitudes of many fundamentalists, adding: “I realised it’s exactly the sort of reason why I created my support group, because of people like him and those attitudes that… creep through the church.”
Human Rights Commissioner, Richard Tankersley, described Robertson’s actions as “appalling” and urged New Zealanders to stand up to those who seek to “spread hate and violence”.
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