Pastor Grayson Fritts, leader of the All Scripture Baptist Church who is also a detective with the Knox County, Tennessee, Sheriff’s office, has been told he will not be allowed to have a church discussion on the restaurant’s premises later this month, weeks after an online video rant of him lashing out at the LGBTQ community went viral online.
Fritts was planning on holding a meeting for members of his church on June 29 at the Cracker Barrel in Cleveland, Tennessee. But the restaurant canceled that meeting, citing the company’s zero-tolerance policy against discrimination or harassment of any kind.
“[W]e disagree strongly with their statements of hate and divisiveness,” the company said in a statement, per reporting from KnoxNews.com.
According to the official site of the All Scripture Baptist Church, the church is extremely intolerant toward anyone within the LGBTQ community.
“We believe that sodomy (homosexuality) is a sin that is against nature. A person will only burn in their lust toward the same gender if they have been given over to a reprobate or rejected mind,” the church website states.
The church also demonstrates intolerance toward anyone who has progressive leanings. “Don’t expect anything liberal, watered down, or contemporary here,” the church states.
🚨NEW VIDEO: @knoxsheriff's Detective Grayson Fritts – also a pastor – calls for the government to arrest and EXECUTE LGBTQ People.
He's on paid sick leave until July 19, and no longer on active duty. As reported by @knoxnews.pic.twitter.com/lBYLhG1ynx
— The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) June 12, 2019
Fritts has faced backlash in recent weeks due to a spirited sermon he gave earlier this year, the video of which went viral this month, the Washington Post reported. Within that sermon, Fritts, who is a member of law enforcement, stated his belief that officers of the law ought to be able to arrest individuals they suspect of being gay.
The state should be able to execute convicted individuals as well, Fritts said in his sermon, which featured him screaming into the microphone several times.
Members of the LGBTQ community “are worthy of death,” Fritts explained in his speech.
Featured image via screen grab/Knoxville News Sentinel
