You'll burn.
Those were the words spray-painted on the Metropolitan Community Church of Our Redeemer in Augusta, Georgia, according to the Augusta Chronicle. The church is an LGBT-inclusive establishment with an openly gay pastor. Vandals scrawled "Burn," "Lies" and "Leviticus 18:22" on the front doors and the words "Leviticus 18:20" and "You’ll Burn" on the front steps.
The Bible passages mentioned are about sex. Leviticus 18:20 reads: "Do not have sexual relations with your neighbor’s wife and defile yourself with her." Leviticus 18:22 reads: “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable."
"I was angry. I was very sad and I thought, 'Just why?' To me, it seems so interesting that they’re saying on there that you’ll burn – in other words saying ‘You’ll burn in hell,’ I’m sure – and quoting scripture," Pastor Rick Sosbe told the Chronicle. "Is that what Christianity – right-wing, fundamentalist Christianity – has come to?"
Sosbe and his now-husband were the first same-sex couple to apply for a marriage license in Richmond County when it became legal, local news station WRDW noted.
"If people want to be worried about my soul, they can be worried about my soul. I know it's fine," Sosbe told the network. "But, don't be so mean and hateful just because you don't understand or maybe you're fearful."
Just three weeks ago, a rainbow flag was stolen from outside the building.
The church has seen an outpouring of support in response to the incidents of hate.
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