As Heinous as Murder': Pastor Defends Fiery Church Billboard Claiming 'Homosexuality Is a Death-Worthy Crime

A Georgia pastor who posted a controversial billboard outside of his church that proclaims that "homosexuality is a death-worthy crime" is defending his actions, saying that it's his duty to stand up against same-sex relations.

Pastor Robert Lee of the Ten Commandments Church in Milledgeville, Georgia, defended the presence of the fiery message, telling the Huffington Post that, though he doesn't condone violence against gays, he believes that "homosexuality is a terrible thing."

"It's an abomination, so we are trying to inform people exactly what scripture says about it," Lee told the outlet. "Homosexuals are destroying this society."

His clarifying comments about violence and gays come after WGXA-TV reported that Ten Commandments Church "threatens the lives of gay people."

Lee, who said he has no plans to stop posting controversial messages outside of the church, said that he believes murder and homosexuality should be considered on an equal playing field.

"Homosexuality has to be at least as heinous as murder," he said, adding that his beliefs are colored by the Bible and not politics. "I see a homosexual just like a murderer."

The sign, which proclaims that "Homosexuality Is a Death Worthy Crime," also cites Leviticus 20:13, an Old Testament verse that 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."

Lee's church sign comes at a time when the U.S. Supreme Court is weighing whether to legalize gay marriage across the nation — or whether to leave the definition of marriage up to each individual state to decide.

It's a high-stakes court case that the preacher has some strong views about.

"The institution of marriage was instituted by God and it should not be changed by people who deserve not to live," Lee told WGXA-TV. "It's not going to work. Before I accept homosexuality, I will die."

(H/T: Huffington Post)