Bob Diamond is a pharmacist from Charlotte who’s running for state Senate. Diamond fancies himself as a guy who tells it like it really is, and ask the questions everyone else is afraid to, such as: did the 49 victims who were pointlessly and tragically murdered in an Orlando gay nightclub “deserve it?”
Over the weekend, the North Carolina Democratic Party dug up a Google Plus post that Diamond made in the wake of the shooting.
The post links to a blog on ncpastors.net written by Dave Kistler, president of the North Carolina Pastors’ Network, who in the past has written a treatise on Outback Steakhouse’s lack of respect for rules. In this post, Kistler answers that repugnant question with a “no,” although in true right-wing Christian fashion, he handwrings over his answer with a million caveats about how the victims are most definitely in hell right now.
In classic fashion, Jesus turned the debate on His questioners asking, “Do you suppose (think) that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans because they suffered such things?” Plainly put, if worded today, Jesus would ask, “Do you think that those gay individuals in Orlando deserved to die that way because they deserved it more than you?” Jesus answer to His own query is poignant and plain. “I tell you, nay (no), but except you repent, you shall ALL likewise perish.” In other words, they are no greater sinners than you. Unless YOU repent, you will also perish. Of course, Jesus is speaking of eternally perishing.
[…]So, for the families of the deceased, we pray. We pray for comfort, strength, resolution, and, above all, salvation. What happened to their loved ones is unjustifiable and should happen to NO ONE! As individuals, created in the image of God, the 49 who tragically died deserved the decency and respect due to all human beings. The actions of Omar Mateen were the result of a godless, anti-Christ, anti-God, anti-American ideology called Islam. And, by the way, an ideology that is antithetical to all that is America and American.
Diamond’s takeaway from it, however, seemed to be that we’re all going to die a fiery death unless we repent.
“Mr. Diamond is seeking election to a district that includes thousands of LGBT citizens,” Sen. Jeff Jackson (D-Charlotte), Diamond’s opponent in the fall, said in a statement. “He cannot claim to represent their interests while also suggesting that they deserve to be murdered simply for being who they are.” NCDP executive director Kimberly Reynolds said this “disqualified” Diamond from office.
Luckily, Diamond has a snowball’s chance in hell of winning the district: the 37th District is one of the most liberal in the state and Obama won it by nearly thirty points in 2012. If he lived anywhere other than Charlotte, though, he’d fit right into the Republican caucus.
