Andy Gipson, Mississippi Lawmaker, Won't Apologize For Citing Bible Passage Calling For Gays' Death

Mississippi State Rep. Andy Gipson

The Mississippi state lawmaker who cited a Bible passage on Facebook calling for gay men to be "put to death" has taken to the social networking site again to refuse to apologize for the remark.

Rep. Andy Gipson (R-Braxton) went on Facebook Friday to say that although he has been receiving emails and calls from around the country about his citation of Leviticus 20:13, as well as Romans 1:26-28, in a May 10 Facebook post on President Barack Obama's endorsement of gay marriage, he will not say he's sorry. The emails have come in response to a petition calling on the lawmaker to issue an apology and to meet with LGBT groups in Mississippi.

"To be clear, I want the world to know that I do not, cannot, and will not apologize for the inspired truth of God's Word. It is one thing that will never 'change,'" Gipson wrote. "Anyone who knows me knows I also believe that all people are created in God's image, and that all people are loved by God, so much so that He gave us the truth of His Word which convicts us of the reality and guilt of our sin, and He gave us His Son Jesus who paid the full penalty for all our sins, by His grace through our faith in Him as we repent of our sin. John 3:16. It is this message that I preach every Sunday. I sincerely pray God will reach someone through this message."

Gipson is a Baptist minister and a business lawyer when not serving in the Legislature. He notes in his official state biography that his family are "of the Christian faith, and are affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention."

The passage from Leviticus that Gipson first cited reads: "If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."

On Facebook at least, Gipson has received overwhelming support for his original comments and his refusal to apologize. Eighty-three people have "liked" his post, and he's received dozens of supportive comments, including praise for supporting God and sticking to his original message.

"I stand with you my friend. ... GOD is in control ... no place for Gays," Ted W. Cole wrote.

Gipson, 35, has served in the Mississippi Legislature since 2008. He chairs a judiciary committee.

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Comments

[hankhans]

01:11 PM on 01/03/2013

this guy should just go join the Taliban they hate all the things he does,gays,women,education,in fact he may be a Taliban agent check his birth certificate

[cw5000]

04:44 AM on 01/03/2013

Gayness isn't one of the seven deadly sins, but gluttony is. Wonder how the fattest and most religious state rationalizes that one.

[snurps]

05:48 PM on 01/02/2013

The crazies will be here in 2013.

[Redfox882]

01:02 PM on 12/30/2012

I wonder if he eats shrimp and other shellfish?

[nycpog]

11:17 AM on 12/30/2012

It is fundamentalist Christians like this who are going to pave the way for Sharia Law in this country. If you want religious law, other religions are going to want their equal rights as well. You people are trying to drive us down a very dangerous road if you want to live in a religious state. Look at what is happening in France, oh, I forgot, Americans don't look past Fox News...

[Sanoski]

06:44 AM on 10/03/2012

I know he's not wearing mixed fabrics! Leviticus 19:19 is very clear. Any way you read it, wearing mixed fabric is clearly immoral and against God in every way.

[Bryce Anderson]

05:14 AM on 10/03/2012

https://twitter.com/AndyGipsonMS

[Tom Key]

02:45 PM on 10/01/2012

The same bookof the Bible commands the believers to stone to the death any man who divorces his wife, violating the sacrament of marriage, and sundering what god hath brought together.

[Oliver Isaac White]

12:49 PM on 10/01/2012

"mississippi atheist/agnostic/buddhist/democrat calls for putting gay people to death on facebook page"...said no one ever.

[justirw]

10:49 AM on 08/15/2012

we need to eliminate the old testament from all bibles, and it might take a generation or so, but eventually these 'christian" hate mongers won't be able to use the babble, er, bible as an excuse for their hate

[HFranks3]

07:16 AM on 10/02/2012

Or just get rid of the entire book all together......

[topman012765]

05:45 AM on 11/11/2012

I think we Jews might have something to say about that.

[snide7242ca]

02:43 AM on 08/14/2012

People need to weed out these radical politicians. They are not "god" and they cannot shout hideous things because they believe they found this in the bible. I just hate it when people use the bible to rationalize their hate!

[jenjen123]

10:26 PM on 08/13/2012

One kind find passages about almost anything in the Bible. You then take those passages and make them work however you want. The Old Testament can be downright dangerous if you take it literally. Since the Old Testament has been revised to serve the English language one cannot take it literally because many things change in the translation. You cannot translate in any language without losing a portion. As for the New Testament,again the same issue plus these are chapters written by the apostles many years later. Of course meanings are lost. Gibson is an elected official A law maker.He should not be allowed to mix religion with politics. When he is preaching from his pulpit that is a different story.

[justirw]

10:05 PM on 08/12/2012

when are people who "claim to be christian" going to quit promoting hate?

does that "christian" obey his bible, and kill everyone who works on the sabbath?

[snide7242ca]

02:47 AM on 08/14/2012

justirw

I agree with you. He should be held to the same judgment that he condemns others to. He backed off of his comments. Someone must have told him he could be arrested for "hate speech." His comments may well cause a young boy to kill himself in order not to fear this man's wrath.

Keep on making your comments justirw. You make a lot of sense. F&F

[justirw]

07:20 PM on 08/14/2012

Thank you, I am fed up with the hate-filled "christians".

[justirw]

11:53 AM on 08/12/2012

I wonder if that "so-called christian" would make his daughter marry her rapist as listed in "god's word".

Deuteronomy 22:28-29

28 If a man happens to meet a virgin who is not pledged to be married and rapes her and they are discovered, 29 he shall pay her father fifty shekels[a] of silver. He must marry the young woman, for he has violated her. He can never divorce her as long as he lives.

What kind of lunatic would make a rape victim marry her attacker? Answer: God.

[Paul Kearney]

12:57 AM on 08/12/2012

Calm down. This is a classic mistake. Christians do not follow the old testament. Jesus fulfilled that section. "Love thy Lord God above all others, and do unto others, that which you would have done to you." If we followed Leviticus, a mildewed cloth would have to be prayed over and burnt, along with other obvious things ignored, and for good reason. Read what Christ says first, anything against his words are merely words, and that will show you His Truth.

[Tracy E Hieatt]

11:14 AM on 08/13/2012

Fundamentalists do follow the Old Testament, often literally.

[GlassRB]

08:18 PM on 08/13/2012

But only on the stuff that doesn't apply to them. I'll bet he was wearing some kind of mixed fabric and has liken food that are forbidden according to the OT.

[Paul Kearney]

07:16 PM on 08/14/2012

This I realize, but if we simply read the direct Word that Jesus said, then anyone can see the truth. I am talking about getting a New Testament with His words in red, and read those words. Some are sermons, and others are parables, and then there are his conversations, the ones between Him and the clergy are very revealing.  One thing that will definately happen is that you will know exactly what He feels about institutionalized religion, and the fact that His appearence means that the OT fulfilled the need for that way of living. Just the fact that people pick and choose what they want to acknowledge in the OT should clue anyone to just how self-serving the intentions they have are.

[William Alexander Carter]

07:23 AM on 10/02/2012

Hey Paul, how will his words show truth, they're just words. Proof shows truth