Antigay Pastor Calls for Girl Scout Troop Leaders to Be Put to Death

Kevin Swanson has taken on Harry Potter and Frozen, but now he's coming for your cookies.

He’s taken on Harry Potter and Frozen, but now antigay pastor Kevin Swanson, who has infamously advocated that all LGBT people be put to death, is coming for the Girl Scouts, reports Right Wing Watch.

Swanson is the host of the Generations With Vision podcast, and in a recent episode, he took the Girl Scouts of America to task for “supporting lesbianism, abortion, and contraception for 14-year-old girls.” The pastor further called out the How to Train Your Dragon movies for featuring “homosexual mentors provided to little boys.” The animated film series is one of the few to feature an obviously LGBT character.

In response to institutions he feels promote the so-called gay agenda among young people, Swanson cites what he believes to be the Biblical punishment for corrupting children: drowning. He paraphrases from Matthew 18:4, which reads: “If anyone causes one of these little ones — those who believe in me — to stumble, it would be better for him to have a millstone hanged around his neck and he be drowned at the bottom of the sea.”

Swanson argues that these words should be read literally: Those who believe in Jesus Christ have no choice but to “take what he says and … apply it.”

This is not the first time that the antigay pastor’s remarks on LGBT people have raised eyebrows. Last year, Swanson hosted Freedom 2015, an evangelical Christian conference held in Des Moines. Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Bobby Jindal, and Mike Huckabee, all then pursuing the Republican presidential nomination, were in attendance.

During the conference, Swanson called for all gays to be put to death, Right Wing Watch reported.

“There are instances in which both the Old and New Testament speak to the matter with unbelievable clarity,” Swanson told attendees. “There's not to be any debate about it. You know what that sin is — it’s the sin of homosexuality. In fact, in Romans 1 Paul affirms that this particular sin is worthy of death.”

Swanson further stated that Leviticus 20:13 “calls for the death penalty for homosexuals.” After his speech, the pastor welcomed Cruz to the stage.

The pastor has a long history of opposing LGBT equality. Swanson has previously likened marriage equality to pedophilia and cannibalism, while stating that the Supreme Court’s 2015 decision to legalize same-sex unions tests God’s wrath. “God [will] come to this nation and wipe it off the face of the map,” he said.

In taking his war on LGBT people to the Girl Scouts, however, Swanson joins recent right-wing opposition to the organization.

In February, Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis threatened to stop supporting local Girl Scout troops over the national organization’s stance on “reproductive rights.” Carlson called the group’s ties to organizations like the Coalition for Adolescent Girls, OxFam, and Amnesty International “troubling.”

Following his comments, the Missouri Girl Scouts reportedly received over $350,000 in donations.