Jamaica bans anti-gay Arizona pastor from visiting country
Jamaica has banned a Holocaust-denying pastor from Arizona who has called for gay people to be stoned death, after outcry from activists on the island.
Steven Anderson, from the Faithful World Baptist Church in Tempe, said he was about to board a flight to Kingston when he was informed he would not be allowed into Jamaica.
Anderson, who once prayed for the death of Barack Obama, has previously been denied entry to South Africa, Canada, the United Kingdom and Botswana.
“The decision was made by the chief immigration officer because the pastor’s statements are not conducive to the current climate,” said spokesperson for the Ministry of National Security on Monday.
The University of the West Indies, where Anderson was slated to speak, also rescinded its invitation.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jan/29/jamaica-bans-anti-gay-arizona-pastor-from-visiting-country
Good for Jamaica and SA, Canada, UK, and Botswana Wish we could ban him from the US. Wonderful picture of a Jamaican beach at the link.. for the freezing among us.
= new reply since forum marked as read
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Controversial American pastor Steven Anderson is set to visit Jamaica tomorrow despite the launch of a petition earlier this month to ban him from preaching in the country.
Anderson, who pastors the Faithful World Baptist Church in Arizona, United States, has already been banned from the United Kingdom, Canada, South Africa, and Botswana because his messages are deemed to be hate speeches.
The online petition to ban him from Jamaica was started by Jamaican gay activist Jay John, and up to last Thursday, had attracted more than 36,500 signatures on the Change.org website.
But late last week, the firebrand pastor told The Sunday Gleaner that he had not given the online petition much thought, although it was a similar petition that led to him being banned in South Africa.
"I haven't really been paying attention to it because to me, it is a joke. It's an online petition. it is not an actual petition, so I guarantee you that the vast majority of people that are signing it are not even Jamaicans," said Anderson.
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Clearly he never made it out of the airport or he cancelled at the last minute.
That said Portland has some nice beaches if you can swim. I love San San and Frenchman's Cove
He was pissed.
http://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/lead-stories/20180130/pastor-banned-anti-gay-preacher-prevented-boarding-flight-jamaica
<snip>
Anti-gay US preacher Steven Anderson said he was prevented from boarding a flight to Jamaica yesterday by airline officials in Atlanta who claimed the directive to deny him entry came from the Jamaican Government.
It was, in fact, the Jamaican Government that shut the door in his face. The only statement out of the Ministry of National Security yesterday, when questioned by The Gleaner, was: "The decision was made to deny him entry by the chief immigration officer because the pastor's statements are not conducive to the current climate."
Anderson was scheduled to land at the Norman Manley International Airport on a Delta Air Lines flight yesterday evening with his 14-year-old son to do missionary work in the island. His intended visit was primarily opposed by members of the gay community who contended that his messages were homophobic and condoned violence against an already marginalia group.
"I had a connecting flight in Atlanta, so as soon as I got to Atlanta, Delta Air Lines told me that they received a notification from Jamaica that I was not going to be allowed to enter," said the pastor who heads the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Temple, Arizona.
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more at link - said he's heading for another Caribbean territory.
