Hey, what's up?
The Obama era has alienated and angered a growing number of evangelical Christians.
I didn't choose this fight. This fight has come to us, and you know what I say? Bring it on!
I've spent nearly six months following two of the country's most radical Christian hate groups.
A pastor, banned from entering the UK.
No homos will ever be allowed on this church as long as I'm the pastor here. Never!
Pastor Anderson, here I am. Are any of you guys homos or just sympathizers?
Welcome to the world of Christian hate preaching.
No one will ever shut me down. The only way to shut me down is to kill me.
And even if they kill me, I'll just be that much more popular.
Last November, Paris was hit by a wave of terror attacks.
90 people were murdered at an Eagles death metal concert.
Around the world, there was an outpouring of grief.
But one striking voice spoke out with the opposite message.
You know, there's something about when you go to a concert of death metal,
somebody might get killed!
You know, you're worshipping death, and then all of a sudden people start dying.
Oh, wait a minute, what's going on?
Well, you love death so much that you bought the ticket?
You love worshipping Satan?
Well, let's have some of Satan's religion come in and shoot you!
I mean, that's what these people should think about before they go to such a wicked concert.
Pastor Steven Anderson's sermon, The Sinful Nation of France, was widely condemned,
but it's still got nearly a quarter of a million hits on YouTube.
He's become one of America's most notorious hate preachers,
and has been banned from entering other countries, including the UK.
I travelled to the US to find out why his extreme brand of Christianity is spreading,
and what impact this is having.
As our country becomes more degenerate, and as our country goes down the drain morally,
then people are more willing to listen to someone like me.
Because about five or ten years ago, a lot of the stuff that I preached, people thought it was too radical.
But now they're starting to see, oh wow, he's right.
I think what makes our church special is just how the preaching is totally unfiltered, uncensored,
just raw Bible preaching. And that's what people are looking for.
Around 300 people attend Steven's church in Arizona, triple the size of an average American congregation.
Now let me ask you something, is our government for homosexuality or against homosexuality?
There's no question about it. I mean, in the month of June, our government celebrates for an entire month,
a month of sodomy. June is LGBT month. Now to me, LGBT stands for Let God Burn Them.
But to them it means lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender.
But if you say, well it's LGBTQ, well then you could say, let God burn them quickly.
Let God burn them queers or whatever.
There is a difference between these people and the rest of the population.
I couldn't believe what I'd just heard. Many Americans, including the majority of Christians,
are also appalled by the extremity of Steven's views.
But the constitutional right to free speech means that Steven can preach homophobic sermons without fear of being arrested.
To normal people, homosexuality, pedophilia are disgusting to a normal person.
Why do you put pedophilia and homosexuals in the same group?
They are in the same group. Because any man who would have sex with another man would have sex with anything. Period.
I'll put it this way. Any man who would have sex with another man would have sex with an animal.
That is true. That's reality. Even if you don't think it's reality, because you've seen it on TV portrayed differently,
or you've known people in your personal life that pulled the wool over your eyes about what their lifestyle is like.
What do you think homosexuals should do then?
Kill themselves, as far as I'm concerned.
Because they're horrible, wicked people. They're just going to keep molesting and destroying people.
So I don't have any advice for homosexuals, except to put a bullet in your own head so that you don't molest my kids or anyone else's kids.
Research suggests that America is broadly becoming more tolerant of homosexuality.
Steven argues his extreme homophobia is a response to this trend.
The same research found that a whole third of the population still believe their society should not accept homosexuality.
And LGBT people are still more likely to be victims of hate crimes than any other minority group.
Hi. Come on in you guys. Let's go.
Steven exploits this polarised feeling within his own congregation.
I was invited to have lunch with Jenny and Juan.
They disowned Juan's gay brother after listening to one of Steven's sermons.
At the time we were still speaking with Juan's brother, who is a regular weight also.
He's a queer.
And so when he came out with that sermon, it was definitely hard hitting.
No homos will ever be allowed on this church as long as I'm the pastor here. Never!
That was it for me. I was like, right, that's enough. I don't even have to question it, pretty much.
And from there on we just never talked to my brother again.
And I think it was hard for my family to kind of see that.
It's a world that seems like a pretty harsh position. It's your own brother, it's your own flesh and blood. You grew up together.
Honestly, when you have the Holy Spirit in you and you're saved, it just doesn't matter what the world thinks because they're going to hate you no matter what.
He's not the brother that I knew at all. He's not. He's not that same young kid that I grew up with.
And it's unfortunate, but would it be any different if he went out and killed someone?
Should I think differently and just be like, oh, just because he's my brother, you shouldn't get sentenced.
No, he's still killed someone. He's still reprobate. God's laws are the same. It's just the way that it is.
So what do you think most people think about you and the way that you live now?
My personal family, they think I'm in some kind of a cult. There isn't a cult-like atmosphere anywhere near the church.
You know what? Isn't it amazing how all the homos hate Christians? But they're not considered a hate group.
Many of the growing number of evangelical Christians in the US disapprove of Stephen's preaching.
But he claims to have influenced thousands in America and around the world.
His videos have nearly 30 million hits on YouTube.
In the last 30 days, people in the UK spent 232 days and 21 hours watching my channel.
People in the United States in the last 30 days spent over eight years watching the channel.
I've uploaded a ton of new content in French, including right here, the Sinful Nation of France sermon in French.
Do people ever ask you why you picked on France in particular?
I've picked on a lot of countries.
So with things that happen in America, like terrorist attacks in America, does America deserve that as well?
Absolutely, yeah. Even as we spit in God's face, even as we murder 3,000 unborn babies a day,
even as we promote homosexuality and adultery and promiscuity all over the world,
and then we just assume nothing bad is going to happen?
It doesn't make any sense. It doesn't jive with what the Bible teaches.
The Bible says that the wicked shall be turned into hell and all the nations that forget God.
So that's the United States.
Stephen says his extreme views were formed by his upbringing in an independent Baptist church.
But his wife Susanna wasn't religious at all until their marriage.
When you were younger, did you think this was how your life would be?
No. No, I didn't. No.
I first met her and her eight children when she was pregnant with baby number nine.
She homeschools all her kids.
Do you see Stephen as your boss?
It depends on what area. I mean, yes. The short answer is yes.
Stephen has convinced her that women should stay at home and shouldn't vote or run for president like Hillary Clinton.
What do you think about a woman potentially being in the White House?
I think it's awful. I think it's awful on many levels.
And not because women are worthless or because they don't make good decisions.
It's just not their realm of expertise.
Not that Hillary is just the most feminine woman out there.
So, probably doesn't even affect her that much.
But, you know, the Bible says it's a curse to have women and children rule over you.
Stephen's church has been labeled a hate group by civil rights campaigners.
His state, Arizona, is one of the most conservative in America.
But I was surprised to hear about another Christian hate group in a far more liberal part of the country.
Preaching hate can breed hate in return.
You sick, homophobic son of a bitch.
Talking about God striking down, he should strike down on your church and burn it to a crisp.
For Pastor Stephen Anderson, abusive messages come with the territory.
You call yourself a preacher? Calling homosexuals pedophiles?
Pedophiles is probably you, you sick freak.
How many voicemails do you get?
Or hate mail?
Well, it depends because, you know, there'll be days where I get hundreds.
And then other days I might just get a handful.
There's a steady trickle of hate, of hate mail and hateful voicemails.
But then whenever something is in the media or on TV or something, then there'll just be a flood of a few hundred in one day.
So, I can just play, I can just play you voicemails just from one day.
You fuck face.
Oh yeah, this one was a classic.
This was the AR, the AR-15.
I'm coming to get you.
Just wait until we bring our AR-15 in and kill you and kill all the people that believe in killing the LGBT.
What would you say back to us, Stephen?
Well, enjoy AIDS, I guess, right?
I can't even count how many people have said,
Enjoy AIDS, I guess, right?
I can't even count how many people have threatened to come and kick my whatever and beat me up and rape me and violently rape my child.
I mean, we got an email recently where they went into great detail how they're going to violently rape each child.
They'd name the child and then say exactly what they're going to do to that child.
I mean, just disgusting, vile things.
Most people, if they were listening to messages like that, where they're threatening to come and hurt their children, it would make them think twice about what they were saying.
Yeah, but I've been doing this for 11 years and nobody's ever come.
But could you live with yourself if something did happen?
Well, I wouldn't blame myself for what some other violent predator did.
I'm preaching the Bible, I'm doing what's right.
If some violent predator came and did something to me or my family, that wouldn't be my fault.
I'm willing to lose everything. I'm willing to give up everything.
I will never stop. I don't care what the cost is. I will never stop preaching the Bible.
You guys can come in and say hi to Hannah, but you can't screech.
The next time I saw Stephen's wife, Susanna, she had baby number nine.
Do you think you're going to have another baby? Another kid?
I think so. I'm only 37. We don't do anything to stop it.
So, hopefully, I've got a few more years in my life.
I wondered if Stephen's children knew about the threats their dad received.
Do you guys ever get scared that something might happen? You know, all these things that...
The Bible says that we have an army of angels surrounding us and protecting us, so I'm not scared.
Might I get to love death? But I don't really care.
What about you, Miriam?
Sometimes I do, but not usually.
Usually I just think so.
Hanging out with Stephen, it became clear that not all of his beliefs are from the Bible.
He's part of a small minority of Americans who believe the Nazi atrocities against Jews during World War II have been exaggerated.
He also has controversial beliefs about who was behind the 9-11 terrorist attacks.
I don't even believe the official version on 9-11.
I believe that 9-11 was actually carried out by our own government.
But why would the American government kill thousands of its own people?
I mean, it's so silly that you'd even have to ask that question because the whole point of 9-11 is that it's the justification for the police state.
It's the justification for tripling the size of the FBI spending and the NSA.
It's the justification for invading two countries.
But think of what they've got to lose. If it came out that 9-11 was, you know, done by the government, I mean, that would bring down America.
And also, the lie is so huge. There must have been so many people involved with it. How could it possibly still be a secret?
It's not a secret. Everybody knows about it.
If you go to New York and do a poll on how many people believe the official version on 9-11, you'll find that there are huge secrets.
You'll find that there are huge segments of the population that say they don't believe it.
The vast majority of American Christians are uncomfortable with the extreme message of the groups I spent time with.
But these preachers are cementing and increasing links with like-minded people across the country.
Verity Baptist Urge, Sacramento, California.
I followed Pastor Steven Anderson to a so-called Red Hot Preaching Conference.
Ten minutes to freedom.
Freedom from what?
Freedom from you, Hannah, your camera.
Hey, how you doing?
Steven went in through the back door.
Out the front, protesters against the conference started to arrive.
Many were from the LGBT community.
Another, Bishroy, was a devout Christian.
I'm here today to change the hearts of a lot of these kids within the church that are stuck,
and even the hearts of those adults that are stuck there that just are blinded by the pastor.
And I also do hope to change the minds of a lot of the protesters and people looking at this from the outside
that think that this is Christianity because it's not.
Christianity is truly a loving religion and it's meant to love everybody regardless of who and what they are.
The point of a Christian is to love.
Inside, crowds gathered for the star attraction, Steven Anderson.
Hey, what's up?
And he was being treated like a celebrity.
Hey, what's up, man?
The event attracted journalists.
Gotta get live streaming for Facebook.
Steven prepared to aim his fire at them.
And you know what? These people from the media here,
I mean, unless they turn over a new leaf and start telling the truth, which probably isn't very likely,
but these bozos from the media over here, they're going to show all the love wins and love conquers hate.
They won't show you how God-fearing, family, men and women walk in this church
and women are called a slut and a whore and they've never even seen these women in their life
because they just rail and hate and spew out all their filth and they're disgusting.
But you won't show that on media, will you?
No, you'll show all the little, pretty little sodomites and they all love each other.
Hey, by the way, I didn't choose that, hey, in the end times, before the second coming of Christ,
we're going to have to be rip in face about a bunch of perverts and homos
and that's going to be the big issue in America that everybody talks about every single day in America.
I didn't choose this fight. This fight has come to us and you know what I say? Bring it on!
Hey, look, whatever fight the devil wants to bring me, bring it on.
After the service, I caught up with Steven outside.
He seemed pleased with himself.
Yeah, everything's good. I just got a nice gift.
I mean, who doesn't want to get an AR-15 as a gift? I mean, that's a cool gift, right?
Seriously, was it an AR-15?
Yeah, I just got an AR-15 as a gift. That's awesome.
That's the gift that keeps on giving.
Fresh from receiving his new assault rifle, Steven spotted the few remaining protesters.
Did you go say hi to your buddies over here yet or no? Or you just ignore them or what?
Those guys, we call the one guy Aunt Jemima, the one with the hair. Al coined the term.
This was the first time I'd seen Steven confront his detractors face to face.
What's up, guys?
Oh, there we go, Mr. Anderson. There we go.
In the flesh. In the flesh.
Pastor Anderson, here I am.
Amazing, sir.
Are any of you guys homos or just sympathizers?
I'm a Bible-believing Christian. That's the difference.
For the Lord or are you for the devil?
I'm for the Lord.
You're for the Lord. You think you're for the Lord.
No, I know I'm for the Lord, and the Lord hates. The Lord hates all workers of iniquity.
Open the Bible.
Psalm 5, Psalm 11.
All of you guys cop out because you just say, I'm saved.
So whatever you do when you beat your wife, when you beat your kids, when you do what you want in sin, it's okay because you're already saved.
That's why. You're just a cop out.
You know what? It's a sin not to beat your kids.
It's a sin not to beat your kids?
The Bible says, thou shalt be.
Did Jesus Christ beat a kid?
Thou shalt be.
Did Jesus Christ beat a kid?
The Bible says, thou shalt be a man-bun here.
I'm not listening to man-buns.
It's okay. It's okay. You have a bunch of half-wits laughing with you.
All right, see you later, man-bun.
You don't know your Bible 33-11. Read it.
It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.
You guys are in denial. You're just trying to have a cop out.
Trust me, you're far from saved.
You're far from saved.
Yeah, I wouldn't have been fraternized with it.
Yeah, you missed it.
What struck me about my time with both hate groups was how they positively thrived on negative reactions from the rest of society.
They feel their views are under threat.
And the more hated or persecuted they feel, the stronger their convictions grow.
And the larger their networks seem to grow too.
Stephen is due to open three new churches this year.
Do you like the power of being a pastor?
I definitely like the power to influence masses of people. Absolutely.
I like the power to be able to speak and thousands of people hear me within 24 hours.
So yeah, I do like that.
You know, because I want to do something big with my life.
you