US preacher Steven Anderson, founder of the Faithful Word Baptist Church in Arizona, has been banned from entering the Netherlands and Europe’s 26-state Schengen Zone over his extreme views.
Dutch State Secretary of Justice and Security Mark Harbers confirmed that he had “taken measures” to exclude 37-year-old Anderson, who had planned to preach in Amsterdam on 23 May as part of his European tour.
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The Dutch government is “taking strong action against extremist speakers who, by spreading their beliefs, restrict the freedoms of others or even incite hatred or violence”, Harbers pointed out.
Anderson responded by slamming Amsterdam’s move, which he said prevents him from “teaching the Gospel”.
“If they are going to reject a Bible-believing creature from coming and preaching the word of God, then it’s their loss,” he added, warning the Dutch that they’re “going to end up the same way [as] Sodom and Gomorrah”.
in a YouTube video, he also said that he got the official notice that he is “banned from the Netherlands and the entire Schengen Area, basically most of mainland Europe”.
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Anderson, who is notoriously known for denying the Holocaust and rejecting abortion rights, hit international headlines in 2016 after he openly celebrated the Orlando massacre at the Pulse gay club, which claimed the lives of 49 people.
He hailed “the good news” that there were 49 “less paedophiles in this world, because, you know, these homosexuals are a bunch of disgusting perverts […]”.
