Steven Anderson (pastor)

Steven Lee Anderson (born July 24, 1981) is an American preacher. Founder of the New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist movement, he is pastor of Faithful Word Baptist Church in Tempe, Arizona. He has received international notoriety and condemnation for advocating the death penalty for homosexuals and praying for the deaths of former U.S. president Barack Obama and media personality Caitlyn Jenner. He has also received media attention for publishing an antisemitic documentary titled Marching to Zion. He has been banned from many countries, including Jamaica, Canada, the Schengen Area which is made up of 22 of the 27 European Union countries, the Republic of Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand.

Steven Anderson
Anderson preaching a sermon on the post-tribulation rapture on April 30, 2017
Personal
Born
Steven Lee Anderson[1][2]

(1981-07-24) July 24, 1981
Sacramento, California, U.S.[3]
ReligionChristianity
Spouse
Zsuzsanna Anderson
​
(m. 2000)​
[4]
Children11
DenominationNew Independent Fundamental Baptist
EducationWoodcreek High School
ProfessionPastor
ChurchFaithful Word Baptist Church
Senior posting
ProfessionPastor
Websitesanderson1611.blogspot.com

Early life

Anderson was born in 1981 in Sacramento, California, and attended Woodcreek High School, a public school in Roseville.[3] He has been involved in Independent Baptist ministry since age 18 when he traveled to Europe to proselytize.

Faithful Word Baptist Church
Main article: Faithful Word Baptist Church

Anderson established Faithful Word Baptist Church as a fundamentalist Independent Baptist church in Tempe, Arizona, on Christmas Day in December 2005 and remains its pastor. The church describes itself as "an old-fashioned, independent, fundamental, King James Bible–only, soul-winning Baptist church."[5] Members of the church meet in an office space that is located inside a strip mall.[5][6] The church has been described as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center, with Anderson having advocated for the death penalty for homosexuals.[7] Anderson has used his influence to found the New Independent Fundamentalist Baptist movement, which includes other churches.[8]

YouTube videos

Anderson has created numerous videos on YouTube to promote his beliefs.[9] J.D. Hall of Pulpit & Pen has suggested that his online presence may be a major contributing factor to the pastor's notoriety, while noting that "Anderson's 'success' is not due merely to the phenomenon of social media influence."[10]

In March 2015, Anderson produced a documentary titled Marching to Zion, in which he argued that the anticipated Jewish messiah is the Antichrist, the Star of David is, in fact, the Star of Remphan, and the Talmud is blasphemous.[11] The Anti-Defamation League described the documentary as being antisemitic.[12] In May 2015, he posted a YouTube video, titled The Holocaust Hoax Exposed, promoting Holocaust denial.[13]

Anderson has been banned from numerous countries and has been arrested. Although he has advocated criminalization of homosexuality and abortion, the Southern Poverty Law Center describes him as a proponent of anti-government views. Anderson operates a website titled True Sons of Liberty where he recommends elimination of the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Reserve Bank, the Social Security Administration, and child protective services.[7] He has appeared on InfoWars on numerous occasions, and the InfoWars store used to offer for sale video productions by Anderson. In a 2016 video, Anderson explained that he used to be a supporter of Alex Jones but now denounces him.[14]

Border Patrol checkpoint incident

Anderson made national news following a confrontation with United States Border Patrol agents at an interior checkpoint on Interstate 8, about 70 miles (110 km) east of Yuma, Arizona. He refused to move his car or roll down his windows, triggering a 90-minute standoff and the calling of Arizona Department of Public Safety officers to the scene. The confrontation ended when authorities broke Anderson's car windows, tased him, forced him out of the vehicle, and beat him while he was lying prone on the ground.[15]

At his arraignment on April 2009, Anderson pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of resisting a lawful order. He was acquitted of the two charges by a jury in August 2010.[16] In 2015, Anderson created a documentary style video about the 2009 incident titled Failure to Obey and published it on YouTube.[17]

Why I Hate Barack Obama sermon

The church received national attention in the United States in August 2009, when Anderson was reported to have delivered a sermon—entitled Why I Hate Barack Obama—in which he said he prayed for the death of the president.[18][19][20][21][22][23][24]

Anderson did not solicit the killing of President Obama but he did suggest that the country would "benefit" from his death.[25] Anderson told local television station KNXV-TV that he would like it if Obama were to die of natural causes because he does not "want him to be a martyr" and "we don't need another holiday."[25] He told columnist Michelangelo Signorile that he "would not judge or condemn" anyone who killed the president.[7]

Anderson's invective against Obama stems in part from his opposition to Obama's support for abortion rights.[26][27][28] Anderson was then the recipient of death threats while a group, People Against Clergy Who Preach Hate, organized a "love rally" which was attended by approximately one hundred people outside the church.[6][26][29]

The day after Anderson delivered his Why I Hate Barack Obama sermon, a church member, Chris Broughton, carried an AR-15 semiautomatic rifle and a pistol to the Phoenix Convention Center, where President Obama was speaking.[6][30] Broughton explained that he was not motivated by the sermon although he agreed with it.[26] The New Mexico Independent reported that Broughton's appearance at the rally was part of a publicity stunt that was organized by conservative radio talk show host Ernest Hancock, who also came to the rally armed, and engaged in a staged interview with Broughton which was later broadcast on YouTube.[28] Anderson told ABC News affiliate KNXV-TV in Phoenix that the Secret Service contacted him after this event.[6]

Travel bans

Anderson has been banned from many countries, including every English-speaking developed country other than the United States (his home country); and most English-speaking African countries.[31] In September 2016, after he had announced his intention to travel to South Africa, Malusi Gigaba, the Minister for Home Affairs banned Anderson and his followers, citing the Constitution of South Africa and stating "I have identified Steven Anderson as an undesirable person to travel to South Africa".[32]

Anderson was also banned from entering the United Kingdom,[33][34] leading him to change his travel route to Botswana by flying via Ethiopia.[35] On September 20, 2016, he was banned and deported from Botswana.[36][37]

In a YouTube video, Anderson mentioned a planned missionary trip to Malawi to set up a church there.[38] But Malawian authorities subsequently made it known that he would not be welcome in the country and that he would also be banned from entering it in the future.[39][40]

Anderson was denied entry to Canada on November 10, 2017.[41]

On January 29, 2018, Anderson was banned from entering Jamaica.[42]

Anderson was scheduled to preach in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, on March 23, 2019. The Dutch government began looking into banning him from entering the Netherlands on April 24,[43] leading to the factual ban from the Netherlands, and the rest of the European Union's Schengen area[44] on May 1. According to the Dutch state secretary, there is "no space for discrimination or the encouragement of hate, intolerance or violence in a democratic rechtsstaat like ours".[45]

As of early May 2019, Anderson is banned from both the European Union's Schengen Area and most recently the Republic of Ireland, which banned him on May 12.[46][47]

On July 23, 2019, Anderson was denied entry to Australia.[31]

On August 7, 2019, Anderson was denied entry to New Zealand.[48]

Personal life

Anderson met his wife Zsuzsanna in Munich, Bavaria, by presenting her with a gospel tract.[3][49] Prior to meeting Anderson, she had been raised Catholic and had become an agnostic as a young adult. After converting Zsuzsanna to fundamentalist baptist Christianity, the couple married in 2000 and, as of September 2019, have eleven children whom they homeschool.[50]

References
  1. Valentine, Venecia (October 17, 2018) Daily Voice
  2. Blair, Leonardo (January 12, 2018) "Tearful Pastor Greg Locke Admits He Is Now Divorced, but Insists 'I Am Not an Adulterer'" Christian Post
  3. "Our Pastor". Faithful Word Baptist Church. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  4. "About". Zsuzsanna Anderson. Retrieved January 12, 2020.
  5. Faithful Word Baptist Church. "Faithful Word Baptist Church - Phoenix, AZ". Retrieved July 8, 2012.
  6. James, Susan Donaldson (September 7, 2009). "Protesters Rally Against Pastor's 'Why I Hate Obama' Sermon". ABC News. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  7. Schlatter, Evelyn. "18 Anti-Gay Groups and Their Propaganda: Faithful Word Baptist Church". SPLC. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  8. "Anti-LGBT Church Splits Amidst Turmoil Following Resignation of Pastor, Reveals Fault Lines in New Anti-LGBT Church Network". www.splcenter.org. Southern Poverty Law Center. Retrieved June 16, 2019.
  9. Steven Anderson. "sanderson1611". Retrieved January 20, 2020.
  10. J.D. Hall (October 22, 2017). "My visit to Steven Anderson's Faithful Word Baptist Church, and the surprises I found there". Pulpit & Pen. Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  11. Borkett-Jones, Lucinda (December 10, 2014). "Anti-gay pastor Steven Anderson tricks rabbis into making anti-Semitic film". Christian Today. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  12. "ADL Deeply Troubled at Upcoming Documentary Film Denigrating Jews and Judaism". Anti-Defamation League. November 24, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2018.
  13. "Anti-Semitic Pastor Steve Anderson Promotes Holocaust Denial". Anti-Defamation League. June 1, 2015.
  14. Steven Anderson (July 11, 2016). "Alex Jones and Info Wars Exposed! By Pastor Steven Anderson". Retrieved January 19, 2020.
  15. J.J. Hensley, Tempe pastor says border agents stopped, beat him, Arizona Republic (April 17, 2009).
  16. Gilbert, James (August 13, 2010). "Pastor acquitted in Interstate 8 checkpoint incident". Yuma Sun.
  17. "Failure to Obey" – via www.imdb.com.
  18. Allen Jr., Eddie B. (August 31, 2009). "Arizona Pastor Calls for Obama Death". BET. Archived from the original on September 7, 2009. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  19. Felten, David; Procter-Murphy, Jeff (2012). Living the Questions: The Wisdom of Progressive Christianity. HarperCollins , ISBN 9780062201287
  20. Blewett, James (2010). Can I Get Baptized in Fruit Punch? Tate Publishing, ISBN 9781617390142
  21. Wright, John (2011). The Obama Haters: Behind the Right-Wing Campaign of Lies, Innuendo & Racism. Potomac Books, ISBN 9781597975735
  22. John Avlon. (2010). Wingnuts: How the Lunatic Fringe is Hijacking America. Beast Books, ISBN 9780984295104
  23. King, Colbert I. (September 20, 2009). "Obama haters see him as the enemy". Nashua Telegraph.
  24. Brody, David (August 31, 2009). "A Hateful 'Sermon' Against President Obama". CBN. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  25. Sundby, Alex (September 8, 2009). "Minister in Spotlight After Obama Death Prayers". CBS News. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  26. "Phoenix Pastor Draws Protests After Telling Church He Prays for Obama's Death". Fox News. August 31, 2009. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  27. Hodges, Corey J. (September 11, 2009). "Preacher's anti-Obama sermon goes against the Bible". Salt Lake Tribune.
  28. Doland, Gwyneth (December 4, 2009). "Kokesh and the guy who brought an assault rifle to an Obama event". New Mexico Independent. American Independent Institute. Archived from the original on October 14, 2012. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  29. Reid, Betty (September 6, 2009). "Church defends pastor; protesters rally". The Arizona Republic. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  30. Reid, Betty (September 6, 2009). "Church defends pastor; protesters rally". Arizona Republic. Phoenix, AZ. p. B.8. Retrieved August 25, 2012.
  31. Eno Adeogun (July 23, 2019). "Australia becomes 33rd country to ban entry to pastor who said gay people should die". www.premier.org.uk. Archived from the original on July 23, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  32. "South Africa bars anti-gay US pastor". September 13, 2016 – via www.bbc.com.
  33. "Gay hating preacher who called Orlando victims 'paedophiles' banned from coming to UK". September 16, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  34. "Anti-gay pastor Steven Anderson banned from UK". Christian Today. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  35. "Anti-gay pastor barred from South-Africa: 'It's not really that cool of a place.'". Washington Post. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  36. "Botswana to deport anti-gay US pastor Steven Anderson". BBC News. September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  37. "Botswana deports U.S. pastor Steven Anderson over anti-gay views". Reuters. September 20, 2016. Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  38. Stephen KJV1611 (October 24, 2016). "Faithful Word Baptist Church Malawi 2017". Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  39. "Govt. blocks anti-gay pastor from coming to Malawi". Malawi24. October 26, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  40. Collison, Carl. "Malawi government says 'kill the gays' pastor 'will not be received' in the country". The M&G Online. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  41. The Newsroom (May 13, 2019). "Anti-gay US preacher becomes first person banned from Ireland". The Scotsman. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  42. "Jamaica bars anti-gay preacher Steven Anderson". BBC News. Retrieved January 31, 2018.
  43. "Kabinet onderzoekt inreisverbod voor extremistische predikant" [Cabinet investigates entry ban for extremist preacher]. NU. April 24, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  44. "Amerikaanse 'haatprediker' mag Nederland niet in" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Omroep Stichting. May 1, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  45. "'Haatprediker' Steven Anderson niet toegelaten in Nederland". NU.nl. May 1, 2019. Retrieved May 1, 2019.
  46. McGee, Harry. "Anti-gay preacher is first-ever banned from Ireland under exclusion powers". The Irish Times.
  47. "Justice Minister bans controversial US Pastor Stephen Anderson from entering Ireland". www.irishexaminer.com. May 12, 2019.
  48. "Extremist preacher barred from entering New Zealand". Scoop. October 22, 2019. Retrieved December 20, 2020.
  49. "Steven L Anderson: My Wife Zsuzsa - Part 1". March 9, 2013.
  50. "ABOUT". Are They All Yours.
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