Ex-Baptist Pastor Fighting Extradition for Murder Charge

Other than the Mormon Church and the Roman Catholic Church probably one of the most homophobic U.S. denominations is the conservative and fundamentalist element of the Baptist Church. Much like the Catholic Church, these Baptists would be well advised to do some internal house cleaning as opposed to focusing efforts on demonizing and marginalizing LGBT Americans. Thus, from time to time it's nice - OK, outright fun - to expose just how rotten things are in some Baptist parishes. A story in the Los Angeles Times suggests that Albert Mohler and other pontificating Baptist preachers have far bigger things they should be doing besides being professional homophobes. Illicit sex and murder, plus embezzlement - sounds like an afternoon soap opera, but apparently that's what was the norm at New Hope Baptist Church in Independence, Missouri, under ex-pastor David Love. Here are some story highlights:
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Former Independence pastor David Love, being held in a South Carolina jail on first-degree murder charges in the death of his lover's husband, is fighting his extradition to Jackson County. . . . Love was arrested on Tuesday in Spartansburg, South Carolina, where he moved not long after Stone's murder.
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On Wednesday, Love refused to waive extradition. Prosecutors say that they have obtained a governor's warrant that will force the former pastor of the New Hope Baptist Church to return to Missouri to face charges.
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According to Stone's relatives, Love had a 10-year affair with Stone's wife, Teresa Stone, and had confessed to the woman the day after Stone's funeral, in which Love gave the eulogy.
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David Love, a friend of Randy Stone who happens to share the same name as the suspected killer, says that he still can't believe that Love gave the eulogy at Stone's funeral. . . . David Love says that he's not sure what motivated the killing, but says that he heard rumors that Stone was the treasurer at New Hope Baptist Church and may have been about to blow the lid on financial shenanigans at the church. "He discovered that things were not all on the up and up," said David Love, who says that he was happy to hear that an arrest in the murder had finally happened.
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Yep, less Bible thumping and less gay bashing would seem to be in order at New Hope Baptist and many other Baptist churches.