In an outrageous statement, the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who also serves as the symbolic head of the Anglican Church, said that Anglicans should discriminate against the LGBT community for their own safety. That way they will ensure bigots in Africa do not assume Anglicans themselves are gay and bash them up as well.

According to Welby, a group of Anglicans was massacred in Africa because their murderers apparently thought they were gay. That is why the archbishop believes the church should be more careful about its pro-gay-marriage stance, in case the lives of more Anglicans are put at risk.

During an interview on LBC radio, Welby said that the Anglican Church’s acceptance of gay marriage would be “absolutely catastrophic” for Christians in Africa. He explained his fear by narrating his visit to South Sudan where he saw 369 bodies inside a grave. The bodies allegedly belonged to Christians who were murdered by locals because they were thought to be gay and capable of converting others into gays.

“The impact of that on Christians in countries far from here, like South Sudan, like Pakistan, Nigeria and other places would be absolutely catastrophic and we have to love them as much as the people who are here. I’ve stood by a graveside in Africa of a group of Christians who’d been attacked because of something that had happened far, far away in America. And they were attacked by other people because of that,” he said while commenting on Anglicans supporting gay marriage.

The atheist community has widely criticized Welby’s comments. That the leader of an entire faith would urge adherents to distance themselves from an embattled minority instead of requesting adherents to offer them help and support is deeply deplorable.

Photo Credits: The Telegraph