Jesuit priest responds to pro-Trump pastor: ‘Jesus spent more time with prostitutes than with presidents’

As adult film star Stormy Daniels’ interview with 60 Minutes aired this Sunday, people from all across the political spectrum took to social media to share their thoughts on her story. One of those people was Pastor Greg Locke of the Global Vision Bible Church in Mount Juliet, Tennessee.

Locke is known for his evangelical belief system that praises his narrow interpretation of “family values” and demonizes LGBT people and abortion. But when it comes to President Trump, Locke’s fundamentalist view of morality seems to go out the window.

On the day of Daniels’ interview, Locke took to Twitter and said, “”The funny thing is @realDonaldTrump is still the President and she’s still a hooker. #StormyDanielsDay.”

Whatever reaction Locke was looking for, he got it. One of his most powerful and coherent rebukes came from poker professional Daniel Negreanu, who slammed Locke over his hypocrisy as a Christian.

“You don’t sound like a Christian,” Negreanu tweeted. “I understand you identify as one, but I wonder how that translates to how you want to behave as a role model for others? You making light of marital infidelity doesn’t seem to be in line with your faith.”

“Supporting Trump despite his immoral behavior (according to your own doctrine) shows a profound hypocrisy that you stand for family values. 3 wives, 5 kids, paying off pornstars… this is ‘Christian family values’ to you?” he added.

While where were smatterings of support for his sentiment, Locke’s tweet set off a firestorm of criticism. One of those critics was Father James Martin, a Jesuit priest who is also the editor-at-large for America Magazine.

Like Negreanu, Father Martin had to give Pastor Locke a refresher course on the bible. Citing Matthew 21:31, Martin reminded Locke who Jesus chose to spend his time with.

“A funnier thing is that Jesus spent more of his time with prostitutes than with presidents,” Martin tweeted. “Funnier still, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you.'”

Martin’s tweet definitely drove the point home. As of this writing, it’s been liked and retweeted over 60,000 times.

Featured image via Wikipedia/screen grab

Sky Palma

Before launching DeadState back in 2012, Sky Palma has been blogging about politics, social issues and religion for over a decade. He lives in Los Angeles and also enjoys Brazilian jiu jitsu, chess, music and art.