Scott Lively has an amazing conversion before-and-after conversion story that would put most Christians to shame.

At the age of 12, due to his struggle as the oldest child of a mentally ill dad, Lively became an alcoholic. At 16, his father got picked up from his home and taken to a mental hospital. It was at that moment, Lively claims, he was alone.

Barely graduating high school in 1976, Lively was addicted to alcohol and drugs for 16 years. He was lost; searching for something firm and dependable to grab onto. He went to all 48 continental states in a 25,000 mile+ search for it.

He claims he finally found it. In God. In his words:

On February 1, 1986 I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ on my knees by myself in an alcohol treatment facility in Portland, Oregon. In an instant I was completely healed and delivered from my bondage and I felt the rush of the Holy Spirit through me. It was a miracle which competely removed my desire for alcohol and drugs — something I had been unable to do for myself over several years of a desperate futile struggle to find some way to freedom. I have never since had the slightest desire to go back.

I’ve heard similar stories. I’ve seen similar stories. It’s true that a wake-up realization about one’s life can happen, and a change in friends can happen, and someone can be changed — whether Christianity is involved or not. So yes, Scott Lively’s story is possible, whether or not it is completely true.

And Scott Lively cleaned his life up, he says. He started going to a bible-believing church. He began to get reconciled with his wife, who he was about to divorce. In his mind, he became a better husband and father.

Today, Scott Lively continues to live out his Christian life. In the words of the Religion News Service from a story written earlier this month:

The Rev. Scott Lively runs a Bible study four mornings a week at Holy Grounds Coffee House in Springfield, Mass. His Abiding Truth Ministries provides meals and movies for the homeless and hosts about 45 people at Sunday services.

Not only that — his faith has motivated him to acquire an J.D. and become a lawyer (specializing in International Law). While running not one, but two law firms, he earned a Doctorate in Theology. And, in 2014, he ran for Governor of Massachusetts on top of it all.

What a conversion story.

When someone asks me if religion is beautiful, this is the story they often think of. A reformed “sinner,” coming back to God, and enriching the lives of the homeless and his own family in the process, acquiring drive and conviction, and becoming a community leader.

There’s just…one more thing….

The 58-year-old Pentecostal pastor, husband and father of four is accused of persecuting LGBT people abroad, a crime against humanity under international law.

Most famously…you remember that “Kill the Gays” Uganda bill from a couple years back? Well…

A lawsuit by Sexual Minorities Uganda, an LGBT advocacy group, alleges that Lively conspired with Ugandan religious and political leaders since 2002 to strip gays of their rights in that country that has resulted in housing and employment discrimination, arrest, torture and the murder of gays and lesbians. The case, filed in 2012, is expected to go to trial early next year in a U.S. district court in Massachusetts. If convicted, Lively could face a fine…. Sexual Minorities Uganda and the Center for Constitutional Rights contend that Lively’s presentations in workshops in 2009 and 2012 influenced a 2013 Uganda law, which initially called for life in prison for people who engage in same-sex relations. Later the law was revised to also punish individuals or groups that support gays. After international outrage, the constitutional court in Uganda overturned the law in August 2014 on a technicality, but lawmakers have said they will revive the bill. Critics say another proposed law, which seeks to restrict nonprofits from operating in Uganda, could also be used to outlaw groups working with LGBT people. “The situation there is very fraught and perilous,” [Pam Spees, an attorney with the Center for Constitutional Rights, a New York-based nonprofit that is representing the Ugandan advocacy group in the case] said. “There are so many violations happening in Uganda, and people are suffering. This case is part of a larger effort to keep it from getting worse.”

Nor does this stop in Uganda — he has also influenced the policies of Russia:

After a 2007 visit to Russia, Lively urged that country to “criminalize the public advocacy of homosexuality.” Russia’s parliament unanimously passed a federal law banning the spreading of “propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations” to minors in June 2013. The law makes it illegal to distribute material on gay rights and calls for fines for individuals and media groups found guilty of breaking the law. It has spurred international outrage, especially during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. “It’s one of the proudest achievements of my career,” Lively said of the law in 2013 on Bryan Fischer’s radio show, “Focal Point,” run by the American Family Association. During the interview, he called Russia’s anti-gay law “very, very good.”

But…he takes care of homeless people. And he’s a Family Man. And he is a Pastor. And he found a way to put his life together — and then some — after 16 years of struggle. And…

He is one of the most dangerous people walking on the face of the earth today.

He’s due to go to trial near the beginning of 2016. Guess who’s representing him?

The case, filed in 2012, is expected to go to trial early next year in a U.S. district court in Massachusetts…. Lively is represented by Liberty Counsel, a Christian law firm that also represents Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk who was recently jailed for her refusal to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.

That’s right. Liberty Counsel — the hate group currently supporting Kim Davis.

And when it comes to Kim Davis herself, according to the Religion News Service, Lively complimented her “courage and commitment.”

Right. You know what takes “courage and commitment”? People who have to be in hiding from the laws Lively allegedly helped pass who, nevertheless, go on national television and speak against them.

Here’s the deal.

I know there are Christians on the far right who care about their families, who feel Jesus “saved” them, who have homeless ministries, who are seen as leaders in their community. They are friends. They are family members I’ve known all my life.

But the views of that book on LGBT rights (and other things) are absolutely and thoroughly atrocious. And one of the greatest things we can do is stand up against it — in spite of the censure of the Christian right. I’m not saying that they don’t have stories, too. But I am saying that, in places that have tremendous support for Kim Davis, Scott Lively, and even the encouragement of gay discrimination by the still-popular International House of Prayer, it’s important to speak up and try to change things. The “we take care of homeless people” defense isn’t good enough and rags-to-riches conversion stories aren’t nearly good enough.

Thanks for reading.