Banned American preacher calls Charlie Flanagan 'a wicked and evil person'

Banned American pastor Steven Anderson has described the Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan as “a wicked and evil person.”

The controversial preacher who has previously expressed extreme anti-gay and anti-Semitic views has become the first person ever banned from Ireland by exclusion powers dating from 1999.

Anderson told the Niall Boylan show on Classic Hits FM that he would not be appealing the ban. “I would not humble myself to that wicked and evil person. He’s anti the true word of God.”

He said that he has not heard directly from the Irish government: “I just heard it through the grapevine.”

He wasn’t surprised at the ban as he is already banned from 31 countries. “It didn’t really shock me that Ireland is number 32.”

Anderson denied that he had praised the gunman in the Orlando nightclub shooting in which 49 people were killed in the attack on a gay nightclub. “That simply isn’t true. That’s a bald-faced lie. I never did that. There’s a difference between praising the shooter and not feeling sorry for the people who deserved to die.”

He said he was coming to Ireland to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. “My visit had absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality or abortion. It’s only the media that fixates on these issues.

There are all kinds of other issues that I care about and those things make up less than 5% of my preaching.

He says the event in Ireland is still going ahead with a different preacher scheduled.

“I was going for the people there. I have a ton of listeners who were begging me to come. I wasn’t invited by any of the watered down, liberal, lame churches in Ireland.”

It was “one of my many listeners in Ireland” who had invited him. “I don’t think there is a Baptist preacher in Ireland brave enough to preach the bible. They’ve all gotten watered down.”

He thanked Ireland for banning him. “The internet is way bigger than me I am getting lots of extra listeners because the media put me on the front page.

“So unless they ban the internet in Ireland I’m not really banned in Ireland.”

It was an honour to be banned.

I’m proud of being banned in all these countries. I’m collecting them like beanie babies.

Ireland is going to be punished for the ban and will “feel the judgement and wrath of God”

“Ireland hates the preaching of God’s word, they hate the truth and so Ireland is going to be punished and destroyed by God”.