Alabama senate candidate appeared with pastor who preaches penalty for homosexuality is death

Alabama senate candidate repeatedly appeared on radio with pastor who preaches penalty for homosexuality is death

By Nathan McDermott and Andrew Kaczynski, CNN
Updated 11:49 AM ET, Mon September 11, 2017

(CNN)Roy Moore, a Republican candidate for US Senate in Alabama, has appeared multiple times on a radio show hosted by a controversial pastor who preaches that the biblical punishment for homosexuality is death.

Moore, the former chief justice of the Alabama Supreme Court, is in a runoff primary race against fellow Republican and incumbent Sen. Luther Strange. Moore is a hardline conservative, who made his name in Alabama by championing social and cultural issues popular with the religious right.

Moore has appeared on pastor Kevin Swanson's Generation Radio at least five times and as recently as this February, a CNN KFile review finds. Swanson is a Colorado-based pastor who on several occasions has preached that the biblical punishment for homosexuality is death. Most recently, Swanson tied Hurricane Harvey in Houston to the city having "a very, very aggressively pro-homosexual mayor."

Association with Swanson has in the past caused controversy, even for politicians who are religious conservatives. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, at the time a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination, appeared at the Freedom 2015 National Religious Liberties Conference and was introduced by Swanson. At that event, Swanson said in a speech that, "In fact in Romans 1 Paul affirms that this particular sin (homosexuality) is worthy of death. The Old and New Testament, I believe both speak with authority and we outta receive it."
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Swanson brought Moore on his radio program to discuss matters relating to the role Christianity plays — or should play, in their opinion in American society. In his appearances, Swanson and Moore lamented the lack of prayer in public schools, discussed their concern that "In God we Trust" would be removed from American currency, and talked about a friend of the court brief Moore filed in support of a court's right to cite the Bible in criminal cases.
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more: http://www.cnn.com/2017/09/11/politics/kfile-roy-moore-kevin-swanson/?sr=twCNN091117kfile-roy-moore-kevin-swanson1156AMStory