Matt Powell Part 1: When Bronze Age Hatred Masquerades as Holiness

This is the first part of my series on Matt Powell in my religious nutjobs instalment. 

For the post announcing it see here.

It would be laughable if it weren’t so horrifying. Matt Powell, a minor YouTube firebrand and a self-appointed “pastor,” is one of the few remaining Westerners on this planet with the gall to publicly claim, without shame, that gay people should be executed. Not imprisoned. Not excommunicated. Executed. Just as a side note, this is not exactly a fringe opinion in his circles — it’s a doctrine rooted in a literalist reading of the Bible, specifically Leviticus 20:13, where a long-dead author living in a desert theocracy wrote that men who lie with men should be put to death. And Powell, like others cut from the same anti-human cloth, thinks that this ancient, violent screed is relevant in the 21st century.

Now, I understand that Powell doesn't speak for all Christians. But he speaks for the logical endpoint of the fundamentalist worldview: one that elevates tribal iron-age law codes above empathy, science, and basic human dignity. He isn’t misinterpreting scripture — he’s taking it seriously. That’s the problem. This is what happens when you start with the assumption that the Bible is infallible, and refuse to let evidence, ethics, or decency get in the way. It leads to “God said it, that settles it,” even if it means justifying genocide, slavery, or state-sponsored murder of LGBTQ+ people. Powell isn't perverting Christianity, he's simply following its most barbaric threads to their natural end. Christians who are embarrassed by Powell would do well to look in the mirror: if your holy book can be used to justify this kind of hate (and still be considered “holy”) what does that say about the text? Or about the god behind it?

This here is the problem. It's not that we think that Powell speaks for every Christian. We understand that Powell speaks for a faction of Christians opposed by other Christians. That's understandable, but if Christianity were subjected to the scrutiny that demands objective evidence as the gold standard, then Powell would be speaking for no faction except discredited lunatics. The problem is that other, more liberal minded Christians, are also (to one degree or another) making excuses for not subjecting Christianity to that gold standard. Therefore, since the enlightenment there has been this great line dividing those wishing to adopt a rigorous mechanism that subjects our cherished beliefs to objective empirical evidence, and those that make excuses (no matter how sophisticated) for magical thinking. 

As Hector Avalos documented, modern archeology has killed biblical history. The idea that Moses wrote Leviticus, or that commandments about men lying with each other are direct quotes from God were debunked as soon as they came in contact with objective evidence - the gold standard. Now is the time for more open minded Christians to subject their own faith to this gold standard test, and by doing so they will be further exposing Powell for the bigoted hate preacher that he is!