New Zealand has banned homophobic pastor
Steven Anderson from the Faithful World Baptist Church in Tempe,
Arizona.
In a video posted on YouTube, Anderson
said that New Zealand is the 34th country to ban him from
entry.
“I had planned on going to Australia
this November,” Anderson
said. “Of course, I was banned from Australia. So then I was
going to re-direct my plans and do souling and preaching events in
both islands of New Zealand. But I just got the letter last night
from New Zealand that I am banned from New Zealand. So, now this is
the 34th country to ban me.”
The letter Anderson displays states
that he is banned because of failure to “meet character
requirements.” The authorities specifically cite Anderson's
troubles with immigration authorities in other countries.
Anderson suggested that God would
punish Australia and New Zealand for acting against him.
“If I were you and I were living in
New Zealand or Australia, I’d be on my knees praying to God that he
will be merciful and that he would forgive your country for doing
this. According to them, I guess preaching what the Bible actually
says about Sodomites is ‘a lack of character,'” Anderson said.
Anderson first made headlines in 2014
when he told his congregation that an AIDS-free world is possible “if
you execute the homos like God recommends.” In various interviews,
he added that the Bible commands the government to execute gays.
The following year, he cheered the
deaths of 49 people who died in a mass shooting in a gay nightclub in
Orlando, Florida. In June, Anderson appeared at a “Make America
Straight Again” conference in Orlando. The three-day event opened
one day after the third anniversary of the Pulse nightclub massacre.