Seventh-Day Adventist Pastor To Congregation, ‘Gentlemen, The Best Person To Rape Is Your Wife’

A pastor in New York City has been removed from his post at a Seventh-Day Adventist Church earlier this month for encouraging men to rape their wives.

A Seventh-Day Adventist spokesperson told the Religion News Service that Burnett Robinson was ex-communicated as the senior pastor at Grand Concourse Seventh-Day Adventist Church. On November 14, the Greater New York Conference of the Seventh-day Adventist Church put Robinson on administrative leave. Ten days later, he resigned.

On November 13 and preaching from the New Testament, Robinson spoke about women being submissive to their husbands. The disgraced pastor, who had been at the church for nine years, took it a step too far, telling his congregation, ”Gentlemen, the best person to rape is your wife.”

“In this matter of submission, I want you to know upfront, ladies, that once you get married, you are no longer your own,” he said. “You are your husband’s. You understand what I’m saying? I emphasize that because I saw in court the other day on TV where a lady sued her husband for rape. And I would say to you, gentlemen, the best person to rape is your wife. But then it has become legalized.”

The church’s managing organization spoke on Robinson’s egregious actions.

“The Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists recognizes many have been deeply harmed by the sentiments expressed by Robinson,” a statement said. “The views he expressed are wrong and not accepted by our church. Rape and sexual assault of women are crimes and should always be treated as such. We will continue to educate and counsel all pastors, seminary students, and staff to fully understand that this type of rhetoric is abhorrent and unequivocally unacceptable.”

The Bronx-based church has almost 1,000 members. Since the pastor’s resignation, the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists has appointed interim-pastor Bancroft Daughma to the Grand Concourse Seventh-day Adventist Church.

A 2017 article by The Conversation detailed how the Bible has shaped rape culture. In the book, rape has been used to uphold patriarchal ideals and beliefs.

Robinson hasn’t commented on the video.