Evangelical church urges Trump admin to 'execute' LGBTQ Americans

[turbinetree]

By Jennifer Bowers Bahney
Published July 7, 2025 1:02 PM ET

An Indiana church is urging the Trump administration to "execute" members of the LGBTQ community because "the Bible teaches that those people are worthy of death," according to WISH-TV 8 in Indianapolis.

In a sermon titled, "Pray the Gay Away," Stephen Falco, an evangelical preacher with the Sure Foundation Baptist Church, yelled from the pulpit, "They're all a bunch of f-----, that want to walk around, come on our streets, and demand our children. And we should look them in the eye and say, 'No, you're not going to have our children!'"

The event called "Men's Preaching Night" was live-streamed on the church's Facebook account, according to the report.

https://www.rawstory.com/trump-and-evangelicals/

Love thy neighbor or lack of that section in the book there Falco..................but love that money changer tax break you get right Falco............what a fucking hypocrite...................

[Johonny]

1. Executing Falco and send him off to God

And leave the rest of us here feels like a better compromise.

[turbinetree]

3. It is absolutely amazing how much hate these ass**es have................and he gets paid for it and is given a tax

break...............

[applegrove]

2. They keep having to 'up the ante' to keep the flock

primed and engaged. You know who else kept priming the pump with murderous thoughts? Hitler.

[turbinetree]

5. And now that red hat POS playing golf during a flooding.................

[SheltieLover]

10. This! 👆👆👆👆👆👆

[applegrove]

13. I used to get the water pump at the cottage going

with my Dad every spring. You prime the pump with enough water, and at the right speed, and the flow takes care of itself. My dad would fill a plastic garbage can 3/4 full of water to get ready. I bet the MAGA/Christian-nationalists/Republicans/project2025 people have these hateful ideas and edicts piled up and ready to prime when the hate ebbs amongst the flock.

[SheltieLover]

15. Yup

[sop]

57. This is where it's heading.

These people will not be satisfied till those they hate are slaughtered, and Trump will be happy to "up the ante."

[Maru Kitteh]

4. So IOW, Falco molests, or would molest young children given the chance

It’s ALWAYS projection with these perverted crotch-sniffers.

[turbinetree]

6. yepper..............someone in that "place should ask him to really take a look in the mirror..............

[SheltieLover]

9. Absolutely!

Wtaf???

[SheltieLover]

7. Christians? Is that what they call themselves?

[efhmc]

8. I wish people here would stop using the term "evangelical" as a generalized descriptive adjective.

Many churches are evangelical and are not mean and nuts.

[Mariana]

32. How should they be described?

[ancianita]

58. Describe them as anti-Christian power worshippers.

They break the 5th/6th Commandment to endorse the murder of anyone.
They also commit the deadly mortal sins of Pride and Anger.
If they don't repent they will die in their sins and go to hell.

[Mariana]

68. The majority of Christian voters in the US cast their ballots for Trump three times.

In 2024, it was 63% of Protestants and 59% of Catholics, according to the exit polls.

Christianity is as Christianity does.

[ancianita]

69. I hear you. Remember, too, that they also voted for Biden over Trump in 2020.

7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. Galatians 6

4 And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. Matthew 24:4


We'll see how they vote in '26 and '28.

[efhmc]

60. Expected this. Those who do not believe this go elsewhere.

The ELCA believes in radical inclusion and diversity, viewing them as blessings from God. They strive to create a church that welcomes and affirms all people, recognizing their inherent worth and celebrating differences. This commitment extends to challenging power structures that create barriers to participation and advocating for justice for marginalized groups.

[walkingman]

35. Would white evangelical be more appropriate? I think that most of the

the white people who identify as ‘evangelicals’ and are the reliable voters for the GOP are really just whites who watch Fox News and consider themselves religious. Their version of Christianity seems to be generational, especially in the Bible Belt. They are taught from early childhood that the US is a Christian nation, founded by Christians, with a Christian Constitution, whose enemies are enemies of Christ. The solution to the world's problems revolve around religion. Anything "secular" is a threat to them and to America.

EVERYTHING that happens is god's will.

[TommyT139]

36. No. There are predominantly white evangelical churches

...which welcome LGBT parishioners.

Sorry, more words will need to be used to avoid inaccurate stereotyping.

Christofascist.
Dominionist.
Theocratic nationalist.

Or when the viewpoint is linked to the articles of faith of a parish or denomination, use the specific name of the group. That way people can actually learn something, especially if the reader lives in an area with parishes of that denomination.

[BeerBarrelPolka]

40. It's an Evangelical church

There's no whitewashing that. Plain and simple. Good and bad. There is no stereotyping going on. You have to own up to the fact that a church of that specific denomination did what it did and that's that.

[TommyT139]

62. Not it's not.

It's an evangelical church -- small E. Also, having checked out their site, it seems more fundamentalist than evangelical, but at that point it's splitting hairs.

"Evangelical" is a broad descriptor, not a "specific denomination."

[muriel_volestrangler]

73. Yes, it is Evangelical - it titles one of its leaders "Evangelist" with the capital 'E'

https://www.yahoo.com/news/indianapolis-church-doubles-down-pride-090603731.html

(and on its own websites, but I see no need to give them links)

[TommyT139]

74. We'll just have to disagree.

"Evangel" is a title, like Pastor, Deacon, etc.

Of course, call them whatever you want - but if this party wants to attract voters from all over the map, alienating them by using imprecise language as an insult won't just keep them away. It means many of the rest of us who are progressive Christians -- many evangelical -- will probably vote, but not bring others along.

[muriel_volestrangler]

78. They call themselves "Evangelical". Raw Story calls them "Evangelical". But somehow, DU copy-and-pasting

those words are going to cost the Democratic Party votes???

You think it's up to DUers to edit the standard English usage of others, because you think that standard use will "alienate" potential voters? That rather than credit the DUer for publicising the horrific bigotry of that church, a potential voter will instead concentrate on the normal use of "evangelical" in the copied story?

Wow. You have a concept of how people decide to vote that is completely alien to me. You think there are people with totally warped priorities ("a Democratic supporter didn't edit the mainstream language use in a report about a bigot calling for murder! That does it, I can't support the Democratic Party. I don't care who the bigot calling for murder supports, it's the reporter who is the real problem here!" ) but who are nevertheless reachable, despite having priorities that are on a par with excusing slavery.

[TommyT139]

80. There are evangelical Christians here on DU.

I didn't say any of what you wrote, but please, do keep projecting.

[muriel_volestrangler]

85. And neither I, nor anyone else here, has claimed that "all evangelical Christians think this"

so your point is irrelevant. You just seem to want to police the normal English usage, so that the word typically used for churches like these (see eg

All three major strands of Protestantism have declined in percentage terms since 2007.
Evangelical Protestants now make up 23% of U.S. adults, down from 26%.
Mainline Protestants account for 11% of U.S. adults, down from 18%.
Members of historically Black Protestant churches make up 5% of U.S. adults, down from 7%.
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2025/02/26/religious-landscape-study-executive-summary/

, and I'm sure you wouldn't claim this church is "mainline Protestant" or "historically Black Protestant" ), and that Raw Story used, is not used on DU. When pushed, you've claimed this is because you fear that using this term here, that everyone else uses, would make it harder to attract Democratic votes.

Why you're denying what your posts above say, I can't tell. But it's a ridiculous stance to take.

[walkingman]

55. That was interesting - I googled each term you mentioned - all seem to have a common denominator

Christian Nationalism. The reason I use the term "white evangelicals" is because that 75-80% of that group makes up the "MAGA" base. I know you can't categorize everyone in a particular group but with that high of a percentage it seems obvious that it is the primary group supporting this insanity. Of course there are always exceptions to the rule but as someone that does not believe the ideology - it seems it would be hard to embrace that group think?

I am a recovering Baptist who was raised that way, but after many decades of feeling uncomfortable with the ideology finally feel comfortable just saying I don't believe that BS. In this nation it is not very socially acceptable to not be religious and although I never mention it...ever...it seems to always come up in even just casual conversation.

I wish people could believe anything they want and let others do the same - why is it necessary to push religion on others in our social interaction or the laws we pass for the masses?

I personally think that religion is the primary destroyer of humanity. It will be our downfall.

[TommyT139]

65. I agree that "Christian Nationalist" is a good catch-all.

A peculiar quirk of the trumpist manifestation of Christian Nationalism is that, while a large percentage of the base is protestant, a very influential core of the upper strata (financially, educationally, politically) is Roman Catholic: Steve Bannon, JD Vance, Samuel Alito, Leonard Leo, Marco Rubio, Sean Duffy, and many more, like Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, which is the leading anti-gay, anti-trans coordination and funder group working to take rights away. (Edited to add) This ultra-conservative right wing of the Catholic Church is not the average person in the pew: they strongly opposed Francis and now Leo, based on social teachings and liturgy, which they prefer to hear in Latin.

Apart from "evangelical" being inaccurate, a reason I will keep challenging it when appropriate is that as we have seen with other segments of the US voting population, there are a lot of people in the middle. They are busy with life; they voted their wallets; they come from areas where "everyone" votes republican; they didn't see the use of voting.

Well, all of those people are up for grabs. And a lot of them are evangelical -- they read the Bible and see that Jesus commands us to care for the orphan, widow, stranger, the hungry ones, the sick ones. They go to churches where - as most do - the preaching is about life, and not in support of a political group. They go to churches where the organist is gay, someone has a trans kid, or those two ladies have been together forever.

Why in the world would we want to alienate those people by declaring that they are equal to the Trumpists destroying this country? All we have to do is speak more respectfully...and yet some people simply refuse to do that, perhaps because they hold onto their own painful history -- which is real, and legitimate -- and assume that's everyone's truth.

I am not saying you are doing that, but in figuring out how to get the Trumpists out of power, it makes no sense to repeat the rhetorical mistakes that helped us get here in the first, and then second, place.

[markpkessinger]

38. Yes, that's true, but . . .

. . . language is what language does. That is to say, "evangelical" has become cultural shorthand for a variety of right-wing, fundamentalist (or in some cases, even non-fundamentalist, but still right wing) protestant churches. You might as well try to hold back the tide as fight this trend!

[BeerBarrelPolka]

42. Not all Catholic

churches have pedophile priests either. But when it happens it needs to be called out. Evangelical churches have their share of pure evilness as well and need to be exposed.

[mwooldri]

50. Could "Christian Nationalist" be used here?

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America would be horrified at this show of "Christianity" and pretty much condemn it. I'm Church of England (not exactly evangelical I know) and I condemn his words and definitely not Christ-like.

[LearnedHand]

56. Not our place to police that language

If a church sigh says evangelical, or if they call themselves evangelicals, that’s what they are irrespective of the church behavior. If evangelicals don’t want to be painted with that brush, then take back the microphone and stop letting them make the “good” xtians look bad. As it stands right now, there are so few of good ones speaking loudly and publicly against this awfulness the protestations can be measured in homeopathic quantities. The whole freaking religion looks almost exactly like that preacher, with few real exceptions.

[badhair77]

66. My former ELCA church wouldn't be described as "evangelical."

Of course now it’s shuttered because the older members died and what’s left of the rest merged with another Lutheran church. There are plenty of evangelical churches here in this red area. I’m looking for a new church but not interested in that mess.

[valleyrogue]

71. The word has been perverted by the reconstructionist crowd, which are truly extremist and fascistic.

Many mainline churches are "evangelical." Charismatic or Pentecostal churches are bastardizations of Christianity to begin with, but the reconstructionist wing of NAR/Rushdoonyites are even more a perversion of "evangelical" or actually Christianity. They are nothing of the kind. They are purely political.

[Conjuay]

76. You're correct .

Call them EVILgelicals, the whole fucking bunch of nuts.
This bullshit has gone on long enough.

[C_U_L8R]

11. You'll never hear Trump denounce them.

Unbelievable. Awful people.

[LuvLoogie]

64. This. Will there be a statement/condemnation via Karoline Leavitt?

Somehow I doubt it.

[Ping Tung]

12. Belief in a cruel God makes a cruel man. Thomas Paine

[AStern]

14. Where exactly in the bible does it say "those people are worthy of death"?

nt

[SheltieLover]

16. Give them 5 min & they will make it u0

[obamanut2012]

17. Nowhere

[paleotn]

48. Bullshit. Look below.

Poor Old Testament All that murder, rape and genocide so easily forgotten. Or just ignored? Careful around Elijah. He’s got a thing about his bald head. Just saying.

[Mariana]

34. Leviticus 20:13.

“’If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." Leviticus 20:13 NIV

Gay women aren't mentioned, probably because women were essentially property, so what they did among themselves was though to be beneath notice. As long as their hymens remained intact until they were sold, no one cared.

[TommyT139]

37. Keep in mind

...that Leviticus does not apply to Christians.

That was a whole strand of discussion in the New Testament (the letters and also Acts) -- how much this group needed to follow the rules of the Jewish scriptures.

The answer? Not at all. That's why Christians don't need to be circumcised, can eat pork and shrimp, etc.

[paleotn]

49. Only when it's convenient. I call bullshit.

[markpkessinger]

45. Leviticus 20:13

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them.

--Leviticus 20:13 [NRSV]

So it is in there. But then again, the books of Leviticus, Deuteronomy and Numbers seem to call for death for a whole host of offenses, including:

1. Murder (Ex 21:12,14)(Lev 24:17,21)(Num 35:16-21,30-31)
2. Kidnapping (Ex 21:16)(Deut 24 : 7 )
3. Child sacrifice (Lev 20:2)
4. Both the man and woman who commit adultery (Lev 20:10)(Deut 22:22-24)
5. Rape (Deut 22:25)
6. Daughter of a priest who became a prostitute (Lev 21 : 9 )
7. An idolater (Ex 22:20)(Deut 17:2-5)(Num 25:1-5)
8. Breaking the Sabbath (Ex 31:14)(Ex 35:2)(Num 15:32-36)
9. A woman having sex before marriage (Deut 22:21-22)
10. Homosexuality (Lev 20:13)
11. A man and his father’s wife who have sex (Lev 20:11)
12. A man and daughter-in-law who have sex (Lev 20:12)
13. A man who marries a woman and her mother (all 3 must die) (Lev 20:14)
14. Bestiality (Sex with an animal) (Ex 22:19)(Lev 20:15-16)
15. A false prophet (Deut 13:5)(Deut 18:20)
16. A false witness (Deut 19:16-21)
17. A disobedient son (Deut 21:18-21)
18. A child who strikes his father or mother (Ex 21:15)
19. A child who curses his father or mother (Ex 21:17)(Lev 20 : 9 )
20. Men who are fighting and hit a pregnant woman, causing her lose her baby (Ex 21:22-25) ***Note: A good verse to use against those who are pro-abortion
21. A man whose ox kills someone after previously goring other people (Ex 21:28-29)
22. A sorceress (Ex 22:18)
23. A medium or spiritist (Lev 20:27)
24. A brother, son, daughter, wife, or friend who entices you to go after other gods (Deut 13:6-11)
25. Everyone in any town that entices people to go after other gods (Deut 13:12-15)
26. A blasphemer (Lev 24:10-16,23)
27. Anyone who failed to abide by a decision of the court (Deut 17:8-12)
28. Any non-Levite who tried to set up or take down the Tabernacle (Num 1:51)

So the way to answer this is not to dispute that it's in the Bible. Rather, it is to ask these people if they are equally comfortable with executing people who have commited adultery, which would surely include at least some of their own!

[2MuchNoise]

18. Sigh. Sometimes I wish there really was a gay mafia.

[TommyT139]

39. You didn't get the invite?

Always check your spam folder!

[wcmagumba]

19. Sounds like a threat of terror killings to this Huckleberry...

[allegorical oracle]

20. What about "The Lord God Made Us All"? nt

[Initech]

21. Any church who tells you who or what to vote for, or does shit like this, isn't a church.

It is a tax free political indoctrination center.

[DiverDave]

22. How very

christian.

[milestogo]

23. The Gospel of Hate, According to Men.

[GenThePerservering]

24. "Men's Preaching Night"

No adults in the room, then.

[Maru Kitteh]

25. Isn't every single night "men's preaching night" for the last

2000 years, and more?

[wcmagumba]

26. What about those gay penguins?

[Emile]

27. Life behind the Hoosier Iron Curtain.

[Norrrm]

28. But they're not insistent on death for child molesters... Too close to home?

Why are right wingers and the religious right so dead set against gays, trans, and others? ---
Misdirection.

Republican Sexual Predators, Abusers, and Enablers Pt. 52

https://www.dailykos.com/blogs/CajsaLilliehook

[Attilatheblond]

29. Because their Christ said this about LGBTQ people* :

* ::crickets::

No, Stephen Falco, your Christ DID not agree with your position. Go back and read is all again.

[Bayard]

30. I SO wish there was evidence that Jesus was gay,

But, I guess we'd first have to find evidence of Jesus. (yes, I'm probably going to hell--if there is one.)

[Norrrm]

31. Adultery - worthy of death... Do they have divorced people as members of their churh?

Leviticus 20:10 KJV
10 And the man that committeth adultery with another man's wife, even he that committeth adultery with his neighbour's wife, the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death.
-------------
https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-1-d&q=divorce+in+the+bible

In the first, Matthew quotes Jesus as saying: “It was also said, 'Whoever divorces his wife, except on the grounds of porneia (sexual immorality), makes her an adulteress; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” (Matthew 5:31-32).
---------------

The sanctity of Holy matrimony for conservative Christians - Kim Davis

[Norrrm]

33. Adultery Clinton Trump

[Duncanpup]

41. FFS These animals.

[MagickMuffin]

43. The bible they worship is not the New Testament

Be careful with that thought process because there is a lot of execution of all sorts of sins. Adultery comes to mind, that’s suppose to be a no no.

Also forgiving of your sins because the Old Testament is the only portion of the bible you believe in then y’all are in a bunch of trouble. 😈


Those 10 commandments don’t seem to work for y’all I’ve noticed. Yet, you want to ram it down our throats, amirite?

[twodogsbarking]

44. It's not the guns.

It's not the religion.

Oh wait, yes it is, on both counts.

[ms liberty]

46. So I guess now we know his secrets

Those people project more than an opera singer.

[MorbidButterflyTat]

47. I wonder if that's the guy

who admonished women to be "trophy wives"? And he looked like a homely incel.

[TygrBright]

51. Who would Jesus shoot? n/t

[Picaro]

52. Every time I see bullshit like this I want to make a counter proposal

Perhaps we should hunt down and execute people like this preacher.

He is clearly not Christian and is clearly a danger to society.

Think of people of this ilk like rabid dogs. We’ve have too many examples of these psychopaths going fully rogue. The tragedy of the right wing assassin in Minnesota is just the most recent example of an individual who espoused violent Christian theocratic ideas.

Maybe we should start rounding up them up ahead of time—before they have a chance to open fire.

[Jilly_in_VA]

53. I wonder how many little kids

or underage girls this dude has pestered?

[Mad_Machine76]

54. I'm horrified but not shocked

For all of the blabbering from Islamophobes about how dangerous it is for LGBTQ+ people in ME countries (BTW doesn't that just prove how ingrained it is in terms of being part of our being?), there are plenty of so-called "Christians" here in the US that would do the same to LGBTQ+ people here if they could get away with it. Of course, sometimes they DO kill us and get away with it by using various legal and technical excuses (i.e. "Panic Defense&quot but, generally speaking, it's not open season on us in this country........yet. But make no mistake, there really are some people like this guy that would kill us in a heartbeat if they had a chance, but they are feeling emboldened and unrestrained with how they talk nowadays with Trump back in office.

[B.See]

59. Haters gotta hate.

Sicko mfkrs.

[LoisB]

61. May Falco and his congregation rot in hell.

[LS0999]

63. This is war talk.

These shits are getting more emboldened every day.

[tornado34jh]

67. Getting really hard for me to not condone violence against these people. To be clear, I'm not advocating for it, but:

The fact that they aren't been held accountable for this stuff is ticking me off. So by their logic, it is only fair then for them to be executed for being responsible for murders/suicides of LGBT people. It takes two to tango, let's see how they like it. I don't want to hear them bitch and whine that they are being persecuted. They're not. They wouldn't know persecution even if it hit their fat cult leader's ass. I am getting sick and tired of them calling for this and nothing is being done. They want to go that route? They should get the same treatment. Remind me again how many of their own have been found out to do child abuse/pedophilia? They love to use the bible as a fucking excuse. I've had it with these bastards calling for the death of people they don't agree with. They love to complain about Islamic jihadis doing this, what makes them any different? Imagine if it happened in the reverse. They would be screaming up to the moon about them being attacked/persecuted like the hypocrites they are!

Seriously, it is time for them to pay up in taxes. They also can't accuse the Islamic theocracies of doing something horrendous whilst they are doing the exact same thing, just a different religion.

[valleyrogue]

70. "Christian reconstructionists" are totally in favor of putting Old Testament law in civil law.

Their equally crackpot founder, Rousas J. Rushdoony, was big on the death penalty for all kinds of things, including homosexuality. The danger is too many of these nutjobs are in positions of power and influence.

I refuse to call these NAR or reconstructionist churches "evangelical." That word has been perverted by the crowd that is basically fascism wrapped in the Bible in order to con the gullible.

Any church that claims it is "non-denominational" should be an automatic red flag.

[Aristus]

72. YES! They're not going to have your children! Your youth pastors are going to do that!

But please, keep protecting child-molesters. Clean up your own house!

[Torchlight]

75. Radical religious clerics calling for mass executions.

The new variant being, 'we don't wash people's feet, we hobble them.'

[JT45242]

77. I'm going to bet that there is some seriously shady shit in Falco's past and web browsing archives

The louder they scream, the more you should be certain that he is doing something wrong.

Not sure if it is underage boys or girls or some other crime. But, overhwlemingly the louder they scream, the more guilty they are.

[marble falls]

79. Not very evangelical of them, is it?

[spanone]

81. So god now endoreses murder? How odd of god.

[totodeinhere]

83. Well in the Old Testament God even calls on people to commit murder.

n/t

[totodeinhere]

82. I'm afraid that we might be heading back to the dark days when many LGBTQ Americans

had to live in the closet. And it could get even worse. Vance is more of a homophobe than Trump and he is favored to be Trump's successor. God help us.

[electric_blue68]

84. Drumphf lifted up the rocks for the worst people to emerge! As far as Xtian Nationalists...

I think I first heard about them like 20+ yrs via Air America; either Mike Maloy, or Thom Hartman.

Looked them up on line back then; mid '00s.


LGBTQUI Community watch out!!
Black folk? Back to Slavery...yeah, really! Maybe other groups, too, not sure.
Women? Fuggedaboudgit; continued lesser class, and probably the worser version of it.

Oh, yeah...as a poster had a list; if a son mouths back too much to his father?
Stone him!

You know The Beastie Boys song ...
"You Gotta Fight For Your Right To Parteee"
Welp...
You gotta fight for your Rights of Democracy!