A controversial Cape Flats pastor has joined a chorus of religious voices slamming government for trying to gag the word of God.
Reverend Oscar Bougardt of the Calvary Hope Ministries in Strandfontein says he has been warning mense for years about the day the South African government will “dictate to churches and all other religious bodies what to say in church”.
And he called Idols judge Somizi Mhlongo a “homosexual pervert” after he complained of a homophobic sermon at church.
The bill proposes a jail term of up to three years if a person is found to have made prejudicial remarks on someone’s race, gender, religion and almost 20 other characteristics listed in the bill.
“The time I preached against the sinful lifestyle of homosexuals, against abortions, same-sex unions, laws implemented where children as young as 12 can have sex and access to contraceptives, I was told to stop judging and spread the love of the Lord and not hatred,” he says.
“Now the same government who they defended are the ones who tries to gag them.
“What is the use of having freedom of religion if you cannot preach the truth?”
He was responding to a call by the Christian Ministers Council of Southern Africa for people of all faiths to stand together against the recently proposed Prevention and Combating of Hate Crimes and Hate Speech Bill.
The council’s Apostle Julius Moloi said the bill would effectively censor the Bible, Qur’an and other holy scriptures, DVDs, CDs and social media.
Moloi’s plea comes days after Somizi took to social media to slam Ghanaian preacher Bishop Dag Heward-Mills for calling homosexuals “unnatural and disgusting” at a service at Grace Bible Church, Soweto.
But Bougardt, who was previously sued for R1 million after speaking out against homosexuality, says he will not be silenced.
“The proposed Hate Speech Bill is a type of religious apartheid where the government wants to tell us what to say and when to say it. I will defiantly go to jail if this law is passed as I will preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
“As for that homosexual pervert Somizi Mhlongo and all other so-called gay homosexuals, they are not Christians, they are all a bunch of angels of the dark who are trying to infiltrate churches and want all churches to accept them.
“As for Grace Bible Church in Soweto, they have created the gay monster Somizi, for the 25 years he attended their church they did not have the balls to preach the truth. That’s why their church is filled with faggarts (sic) who want to control church leadership.
“They are the ones who took money from these reprobates, became rich, now that a man of God comes to preach the truth they cannot handle it."
An M-Net spokesman said Somizi was recording Idols SA in Durban and couldn't respond by last night.