Bob Jones
(IN PHOTO) Bob Jones University President Bob Jones III appears on CNN's Larry King Live in Washington March 3. Jones announced that the South Carolina fundamentalist Christian university had lifted its ban on inter-racial dating after the issue sparked a storm of controversy for Republican presidential front-runner George W. Bush. "We don't have to have that rule. In fact, as of today, we've dropped the rule," Jones said. Reuters

While California lawyer Matt McLaughlin recently proposed placing a bullet on the head of gays which would be possibly voted by residents in the 2016, an evangelical preacher made an about face in his position regarding homosexuals similar to what the lawyer wants to happen. About 35 years ago, Bob Jones III proposed that gays be stoned to death.

On Saturday, Jones apologised for that suggestion, reports Huffington Post. Jones was president and chancellor then of Bob Jones University and was reacting to then U.S. President Jimmy Carter extending Civil Rights Act protection to gays.

He then said, “It would not be a bad idea to bring the swift justice today that was brought in Israel’s day against murder and rape and homosexuality. I guarantee it would solve the problem post-haste if homosexuals were stoned, if murderers were immediately killed as the Bible commands.”

Jones said he takes personal ownership of those inflammatory words. He admits it was a reckless statement made in the heat of a political controversy 35 years ago. Jones points out it goes against his theology and five decades of preaching a redeeming Christ who came into the world not to condemn but to save.

The preacher said he could no longer erase those words but adds it does not represent his heart’s beliefs or what he preaches. Since then, he did not advocate stoning of sinners.

Before his Saturday apology, BJUnity had been calling for three years for Jones to say sorry through a petition on Change.org. BJUnity is an organisation dedicated to helping students from Bob Jones University who are gays. The petition has over 1,900 signatures, according to CNN.

BJUnity accepted Jones’s apology. BJUnity Executive Director Jeffrey Hoffman said, “It’s never too late to say you’re sorry.” He admits that most people were shocked by what Jones did because they never expected him to apologise for what he said in 1980.

The university is controversial because of its fundamentalist stand. In 1975, it prohibited interracial dating.

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au

RELATED STORIES