In an unsurprising yet nonetheless troubling move, a prominent Westboro Baptist Church member has said on the record that he feels homosexuals should be put to death.
Appearing on "The David Pakman Show," Jonathan Phelps said he "absolutely" supported the death penalty for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, though he stopped short of elaborating when it came to how he thought the U.S. government should enforce such punishments.
"Human government would have to establish that, and since I'm not involved in that aspect of it, I'm not answering that," Phelps, who is the son of Westboro founder Fred Phelps, told Pakman. "What I'm partial to is people repenting, that's what I'm partial to."
When Pakman, who is Jewish, asked about his personal standing in God's eyes, Phelps noted, "You were born into a system of false religious teachings...you're not unique, you're just a rebel like the rest of them."
Phelps' proclamation follows news that Westboro Baptist Church members are planning to picket at the funeral of U.S. Army Sgt. Donna Johnson, which is scheduled for Oct. 13. The 29-year-old Johnson was reportedly a married lesbian, and is survived by her wife Tracy Dice.
"Military funerals have become pagan orgies of idolatrous blasphemy, where they pray to dunghill gods of Sodom & play taps to a fallen fool," the church's picket announcement reads, according to Joe. My. God.