Cruz criticizes Florida pastor over Ugandan anti-LGBTQ law: 'Your biblical analysis is in error'

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, sparred with a pastor on Twitter over an anti-LGBTQ law in Uganda, asking the faith leader if “you really believe" the United States' government "should execute every person who is gay?”

Cruz last week called the law, which imposes the death penalty for what it calls "aggravated homosexuality" and establishes lifetime prison sentences for people who engage in gay sex, “horrific & wrong” on Twitter.

“ALL civilized nations should join together in condemning this human rights abuse,” Cruz shared.

Tom Ascol, a Florida pastor, responded to Cruz’s tweet, telling the senator to “Tell it to God” and quoting a passage of the Bible.

“Was this law God gave to His old covenant people ‘horrific and wrong’?” Ascol shared.

Cruz on Monday hit back, telling Ascol that he honors “your ministry” but “Your biblical analysis is in error.”

“Do you really believe that the US govt should execute every person who is gay??" Cruz tweeted, adding “Leviticus also tells us: ‘For anyone who curses his father or his mother shall surely be put to death.’”

“Should the govt execute every child who’s disrespectful to his parents?” Cruz shared.

Ascol in a statement to USA TODAY said "I appreciate the thought response that Senator Cruz gave to me on Twitter."

"First, he asks, 'Do you really believe that the US govt should execute every person who is gay?' My answer is simply, 'No,'" the pastor wrote in an email to USA TODAY. "Then he asks, 'Should the govt execute every child who’s disrespectful to his parents?' My answer is again, 'No.'"

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'Violation of universal human rights'

Cruz is not the only leader who has spoken out about the measure Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni signed into law.

President Joe Biden called the law “a tragic violation of universal human rights − one that is not worthy of the Ugandan people, and one that jeopardizes the prospects of critical economic growth for the entire country.”

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also raised concerns about the measure.

“(Guterres) calls on Uganda to fully respect its international human rights obligations, in particular the principle of non-discrimination and the respect for personal privacy, irrespective of sexual orientation and gender identity,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Contributing: John Fritze, USA TODAY; Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ted Cruz clashes with Florida pastor over Ugandan anti-LGBTQ law