With the shocking claims that controversial and extremely homophobic pastor James David Manning has made in the past, it's no easy feat for him to top his previous statements. But he keeps showing that he's up to the task.
Last year Manning made headlines for insisting that Starbucks brews up "sodomite semen" in its lattes. Now he's continuing to support death by stoning for LGBT people -- even while admitting that he's been tempted to engage in gay sex himself.
Manning, who heads ATLAH World Missionary Church in New York, was interviewed this week on the Web series The Young Turks, which on YouTube bills itself as "The Largest Online News Show in the World." Hosts Cenk Uygur and Ana Kasparian disputed Manning's claim that homosexuality is a choice and (since Manning said that it was) asked him if he'd ever been tempted to make such a choice.
"Oh, absolutely. No doubt about it," Manning said. "I spent 3 1/2 years in prison. ... I saw a lot of that activity going on. ... I saw that and was tempted, but I didn't yield to temptation. ... Make sure you publish that as well."
But Manning still sees being LGBT as a "lifestyle choice" deserving of harsh punishment. Since he has favored stoning of LGBT people, the hosts asked him what he thought of extremist Islamic groups with the same view.
"If the word of God says stoned based on a heinous violation of humanity and ISIS or al-Qaeda or anybody else who has the wisdom and the integrity to reference that scripture by Moses, then yes, I agree with them."
Oh, and he's still doubling down on that sodomite semen thing. Apparently it has "quite a flavor."
The full interview is on YouTube. Here's a clip: