Kevin Swanson is a preacher and broadcaster from Colorado, known for his condemnation of homosexuality [1] as well as his advocacy of Christian education. He is the pastor of Reformation Church in Elizabeth, Colorado, [2] which is a member church of the Covenant Presbyterian Church. [3] He is the director of Generations, which produces Generations, a daily podcast hosted by Swanson. [4] Swanson is also a writer for The World View in 5 Minutes, a daily online Christian newscast. [5]
Swanson was born to missionaries, growing up in Japan in the 1960s and 1970s, [6] and was educated by his parents. [4] He attended and graduated from California Polytechnic State University with a degree in engineering. [4] Swanson ran for governor of Colorado in the 1994 election as a candidate for the Taxpayers Party (now the Constitution Party), receiving 3.62% of the vote. [7] He is married to Brenda Swanson, with whom he has five children. [6]
Swanson hosted the Freedom 2015: National Religious Liberties Conference in Des Moines, Iowa, attended by Republican presidential candidates Senator Ted Cruz of Texas and his father Rafael Cruz, former Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, and Governor Bobby Jindal of Louisiana. The conference addressed the issue of securing religious liberty for the future. At the conference, Swanson spoke about a Biblical mandate of the death penalty for homosexuality, stating that both the Old and New Testament cover the "sin of homosexuality" and that in Romans 1 Paul the Apostle affirms that it is worthy of capital punishment. [8] In the same speech, he stated that he was not calling for these biblical injunctions to be enacted in America "because homosexuals need time to repent" and "America needs time to repent". [1] [8] [9] Rather than read J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter books he urged "America, repent of Harry Potter. Repent that Dumbledore emerged as a homosexual mentor for Harry Potter." He said: "For tens of millions of parents, it would be better that a millstone be hung around their neck and they be drowned at the bottom of the sea." [10] [11] Ted Cruz's spokesman Rick Tyler called Swanson's statements "reprehensible" and given the comments "it was a mistake for Senator Cruz to appear at the event", stating that Cruz is against hatred or violence against homosexuals. [12] [13]
The existence of homosexuality is an explanation for terrorist incidents, according to Swanson. On his June 16, 2016 radio show, he said the Orlando nightclub shooting was caused because of general sinfulness, quoting a section of Romans 1 commonly cited to condemn homosexuality: "God gave them over to a reprobate mind." He then quoted Jesus' words in Matthew 15:19: "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander", and concluded that "man has a heart problem". He also compared the incident to a mass killing mentioned in Luke 13, to which Jesus responded "unless you repent you will likewise perish". Swanson said that "humble homosexuals that fall on their faces and plead for God's mercy as the publican did in the parable will go to heaven" and "proud gays will go to hell". [14] He believes the Borg (in the Star Trek franchise) has demonic power. [13] [15] In 2014, he said the Disney film Frozen (2013) was the work of the devil and persuades young women to be lesbians. [16] Disney, he said, is "one of the most pro-homosexual organisations in the country". [17]
Swanson claimed the November 2015 Paris attacks happened because "God's sending a message." [18] He defended the 2014 Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Act, which introduced the punishment for homosexuality as life imprisonment or execution. [19]
In June 2019, Swanson said of singer Taylor Swift's embrace of the LGBTQ community in one of her songs, "You Need to Calm Down", saying she is "apparently telling God to calm down about all of his ethical concerns. I don't think it's going to be effective, but that's what she's doing". He added: "I think we just tell Taylor Swift that she's a fool. That she doesn't fear God, and sooner or later, God will cut her down." [20]
Within Christianity, there are a variety of views on sexual orientation and homosexuality. The view that various Bible passages speak of homosexuality as immoral or sinful emerged in the first millennium AD, and has since become entrenched in many Christian denominations through church doctrine and the wording of various translations of the Bible.
James Clayton Dobson Jr. (born April 21, 1936) is an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist, and founder of Focus on the Family (FotF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s, he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesmen for conservative social positions in American public life. Although never an ordained minister, he was called "the nation's most influential evangelical leader" by The New York Times while Slate portrayed him as a successor to evangelical leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.
William Franklin Graham III is an American evangelical evangelist and missionary. He frequently engages in Christian revival tours and political commentary. He is president and CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (BGEA) and of Samaritan's Purse, an international Christian relief organization. Graham became a "committed Christian" in 1974 and was ordained in 1982, and has since become a public speaker and author. He is a son of the American evangelist Billy Graham.
Ted Arthur Haggard is an American Methodist pastor. Haggard is the founder and former pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colorado and is a founder of the Association of Life-Giving Churches. He served as president of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) from 2003 until November 2006.
The Potter's House Christian Fellowship, commonly known as The Potter's House, is a Pentecostal Christian organisation based in the United States of America. It was established in Prescott, Arizona, in 1970 by Wayman Mitchell. The Potter's House was a member of the Foursquare church until 1983 when they separated to form a new independent fellowship.
John Fullerton MacArthur Jr. is an American pastor and author who hosts the national Christian radio and television program Grace to You. He has been the pastor of Grace Community Church, a non-denominational church in Sun Valley, California since February 9, 1969. He is currently the chancellor emeritus of The Master's University in Santa Clarita and The Master's Seminary.
Chick tracts are short evangelical gospel tracts in a comic book format, originally created by American cartoonist Jack Chick in the 1960s. His company Chick Publications has continued to print Chick's work, as well as tracts in a similar style by other writers.
Rick Scarborough is a Christian political advocate and former Southern Baptist pastor from Pearland, Texas, who leads Recover America and Recover America Action.
Jesus Camp is a 2006 American documentary film directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing about a charismatic Christian summer camp, where children spend their summers being taught that they have "prophetic gifts" and can "take back America for Christ". According to the distributor, it "doesn't come with any prepackaged point of view" and attempts to be "an honest and impartial depiction of one faction of the evangelical Christian community".
Methodist viewpoints concerning homosexuality are diverse because there is no one denomination which represents all Methodists. The World Methodist Council, which represents most Methodist denominations, has no official statements regarding sexuality. British Methodism holds a variety of views, and permits ministers to bless same-gender marriages. United Methodism, which covers the United States, the Philippines, parts of Africa, and parts of Europe, concentrates on the position that the same-sex relations are incompatible with "Christian teaching", but extends ministry to persons of a homosexual orientation, holding that all individuals are of sacred worth.
Greg Ottenbreit is a Canadian politician. He was elected to represent the electoral district of Yorkton in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan in the 2007 election. He is a member of the Saskatchewan Party.
James David Manning is an American pastor at the ATLAH World Missionary Church. Manning grew up in Red Springs, North Carolina, and has been with ATLAH since 1981. ATLAH stands for All The Land Anointed Holy, which is Manning's name for Harlem.
Matthew Vines is an American LGBT activist, known for the viral YouTube video "The Gay Debate: The Bible and Homosexuality" and his related 2014 book, God and the Gay Christian.
The 2016 presidential campaign of Mike Huckabee, the 44th Governor of Arkansas, began on May 5, 2015, at an event in his hometown of Hope, Arkansas. Huckabee's candidacy for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election was his second, after having previously run in 2008. Following a disappointing showing in the Iowa caucuses, Huckabee ended his run on February 1, 2016.
The 2016 presidential campaign of Bobby Jindal, the 55th Governor of Louisiana, was announced on June 24, 2015. His candidacy for the Republican nomination for President of the United States in the 2016 election came after several years of speculation following the 2012 election. Jindal is the first Indian American and third Asian American to run for president of the United States.
Rafael Bienvenido Cruz y Díaz is a Cuban-American evangelical preacher and father of Texas U.S. Senator Ted Cruz. He has served as a surrogate in his son's political campaigns.
Faithful Word Baptist Church is a New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist church in Tempe, Arizona, that was founded by Steven Anderson. The church describes itself as "an old-fashioned, independent, fundamental, King James Bible-only, soul-winning Baptist church." Members of the church meet in an office space that is located inside a strip mall. Anderson established the church in December 2005 and remains its pastor.
Gay is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term's use as a reference to male homosexuality may date as early as the late 19th century, but its use gradually increased in the mid-20th century. In modern English, gay has come to be used as an adjective, and as a noun, referring to the community, practices and cultures associated with homosexuality. In the 1960s, gay became the word favored by homosexual men to describe their sexual orientation. By the end of the 20th century, the word gay was recommended by major LGBT groups and style guides to describe people attracted to members of the same sex, although it is more commonly used to refer specifically to men. At about the same time, a new, pejorative use became prevalent in some parts of the world. Among younger speakers, the word has a meaning ranging from derision to a light-hearted mockery or ridicule. The extent to which these usages still retain connotations of homosexuality has been debated and harshly criticized. This page examines gay characters in fictional works as a whole, focusing on characters and tropes in cinema and fantasy.