Creationist Matt Powell wants the government to murder drag queens because he falsely believes they perform sexual acts in front of children in libraries. That was only one of the hateful, lie-filled comments he made in a video he purposely uploaded to a non-YouTube site in order to evade punishment.
Powell usually makes himself look bad by spreading scientific misinformation, like saying evolution is racist because it teaches that “we evolved from African Americans” even though, he argues, there are “African Americans that are still alive today.” Or that the fight to save endangered species is somehow proof that evolution is a hoax. Or that it’s a “historical fact” that dinosaurs were killed in the Civil War. Just a bizarre mix of unearned confidence and extreme ignorance all rolled into one.
But let’s not forget Powell is also a hate-preacher.
In recent years, he’s said that homosexuality “should be illegal,” that LGBTQ people were “trying to recruit” children, and that gay people should be executed by the government as commanded in Leviticus 20:13. The video he posted came down shortly after that and he’s mostly backed away from the topic since then.
Recently, however, he uploaded a similar video on the right-wing haven Odysee. In it, Matt Powell takes the New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist approach, calling for government-sanctioned executions of drag queens while spreading all kinds of lies about gay people. (This was first picked up by @AtheistJr.)
Here’s the 46-minute sermon boiled down to under two minutes:
But they’re saying, “We’ll convert your children.” Do you know how they convert children? By molesting them. By abusing them. That’s how they convert children. That’s how people even become homosexuals, is by getting molested by one of these creeps.
…
And let me ask you a question: Why would you celebrate a group of people that leads the world in pedophilia?
…
Do you know what Jesus preached about child molesters, people that would go around flaunting their bodies and doing perversion in front of children? That they should be dealt with by the government. Capital punishment. I believe that all of these drag queens… should be lined up, every single one of them that has flaunted their body in a sexual manner in front of children, I believe that they should all be lined up, and by the power of the United States Constitution and the authority of God’s Word, should be dealt with via firing squad.
…
The only reason they adopt children is probably to molest them, according to statistics.
…
So why is the church today affirming them? “We affirm it!” What, you’re affirming AIDS? Affirming pedophilia? What kind of nonsense is that?
…
If you’re homosexual, you can’t multiply. The only way you can multiply is by molesting children and creating—like zombies creating more child molesters.
…
Dear Lord, I pray that America would wake up to the perversion that is going on, and that parents would not send their kids to Drag Queen Story Hour to be around a bunch of pedophiles. Lord, I pray You’d strike those pedophiles dead. Every single one of these drag queens. Dead, Lord. I pray that You would wipe them out and that You would eradicate them through Your power. And Lord, we know that You will someday if not now.
…
I’m sorry. Our ancestor was not Spongebob Squarepants, okay?
Needless to say, this is a steady stream of lies, often perpetuated by conservative Christians and right-wing commentators who don’t give a damn about honesty. (Drag queens who read stories to kids in libraries are not performing the same act that they might in a more adult-oriented setting.)
Matt Powell is using misinformation about drag queens to justify his anti-LGBTQ bloodlust. Much like with those Christian hate-preachers in the New IFB world, I’m not worried about potential violence committed by the person doing the talking. I’m worried about what their followers might do.
It’s all just vile hate speech in the name of Jesus. This is where Powell’s Christianity led him: To a Creationist ministry where the desire for other people’s death is treated as perfectly normal exegesis. He says this stuff because no one at Kent Hovind’s weird Creationism complex has the guts to challenge him. He says it because he knows other conservative Christians share his bigotry (if not his extreme views on what the consequences ought to be).
Also important: Powell knows exactly what he’s doing when it comes to the best ways of spreading his brand of Christian hate. He uploaded that screed on a mostly unknown website so it wouldn’t punish his YouTube channel’s revenue stream… while directing his followers there through a more innocuous video on YouTube.
None of this will stop unless the people in his life have the heart to talk sense into him. It hasn’t happened yet. I worry it never will.
(Thanks to @GodlessEngineer for the link)