Advertisement Sacramento pastor 'upset more didn't die' in Orlando Protests planned Sunday at Verity Baptist Church Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A Sacramento pastor, who is receiving some backlash for remarks he made during a Sunday sermon at his church following the shooting massacre in Orlando, spoke with KCRA 3 on Tuesday about his controversial comments.During a portion of his teaching, Pastor Roger Jimenez, of Verity Baptist Church on Northgate Boulevard, was talking about sodomites, saying that it is "unnatural to want to be with some of the same sex."Jimenez then went on to make comments about the shooting at a gay nightclub, which had happened just hours before."People say, 'Well, aren't you sad that 50 sodomites died?' Here's the problem with that, it's like the equivalent of asking me, 'Well, aren't you sad that 50 pedophiles were killed today?'" Jimenez said. "No, I think that's great. I think that helps society. I think that Orlando, Florida is a little safer tonight."sacramento pastor youtubeJimenez went on to say that it was a tragedy more didn't die."I'm kind of upset that he didn't finish the job because these people are predators," Jimenez said. "They are abusers, they take advantage of people."KCRA's Kathy Park spoke with Jimenez on Tuesday about his sermon."I don't regret anything that I said, and I don't take back anything that I said," Jimenez said. "I do think that most people out there have not listened to the sermon in it's context and are basically just taking what the media is portraying, and the media, for the most part, is just flat out lying."During the interview, Jimenez quoted a couple of passages in the Bible that he says teach that "these people" deserve to die."The point that I was making is if God puts the death penalty on it, God says they deserve to die, and they die, this is not something that we, as Christians, need to be mourning," Jimenez said. "In the same way that this gunman who went in there and killed all these people, he violated Scripture. God says that he deserves to die for taking their lives. We don't need to be mourning his death either."Jimenez went on to say that the main focus of his sermon was about how the government and media is going to use this even to push their agenda, which is to take away gun rights and limit freedom of speech."In America, we are no longer allowed to have an opinion," Jimenez said. "In America, you are no longer allowed to say anything that doesn't follow what mainstream media tells you you're allowed to say or else they are going to take your sermon off YouTube or try to shut down your website or whatever."Jimenez said he has been getting a lot of hateful comments, but he has also been getting a lot of messages and phone calls from people who say they support him and agree with what he is saying."I think it's time for normal people to step up and say 'Enough is enough,'" Jimenez said. "I'm not saying, 'Let's go kill them.'"Jimenez has been a pastor at Verity Baptist Church for more than five years and said the reaction to his recent sermon will not change the way he preaches. He thinks he might lose some people from his church, but he also might gain some followers because of his comments.Members of the City Pastors Fellowship of Sacramento released a statement Tuesday in response to Jimenez's comments:"This past Sunday morning, there was a heartless and heartbreaking statement made by a Sacramento pastor to his congregation related to the shootings in Orlando. These comments, applauding the death of innocent people, are completely contrary to the Bible's teaching and God's heart. His statements do not represent Jesus nor hundreds of Sacramento pastors whose hearts have been broken and are praying for the loved ones so tragically affected by this cowardly act. As Sacramento pastors, we are united in our prayers and sadness for those who have lost loved ones and for those even now fighting for their lives. May God's love prevail in this tragedy."At least two protests are planned for Sunday at Verity Baptist Church in response to Jimenez's sermon."You're hurting a lot more people than you really think you are," said Alexa Black, one of the organizers of Sunday's protest and a transwoman. "We're just people that go to work five days a week. I pay my taxes just like you."Fellow organizer and Baptist Linda Tillman said Jimenez is "taking the Bible's words" and "twisting them to get his message across.""We want people to know especially people in Sacramento," Tillman said. "This isn't our community. This isn't what we stand for. We don't want this here (and) we don't want that kind of thinking here. We are bigger than that, we are better than that.""I am not against people protesting. I think people have the right to say whatever they want, and people should be able to disagree with me," Jimenez said. "I don't have an issue with that. We are going to make sure people are safe and aren't harassed and are allowed to come into the church service if they wish to. We don't mind protesters being there. I will be preaching."According to its website, Verity Baptist Church is "an independent, fundamental, soul winning, separated, King James Bible believing Baptist Church--and not ashamed to say so.""I was heartbroken. I actually texted him, and tried to be able to make contact with him and said I was going to call him and then his voicemail is obviously full," vice president of City Pastors Fellowship and Rock of Roseville pastor Francis Anfuso said."There's no biblical veracity to what he said, it's just his own ideas, own conclusions, taking things out of context, and Jesus did not come to condemn us, he came to save us and rescue us," Anfuso added.KCRA 3's Kathy Park contributed to this story.