Filipino Boxer Pacquiao Recites Death on gays Verses and Nike Drops him

                                                                        

                                                                         

Manny Pacquiao posts, deletes Bible verse calling for gays 'to be put to death'

   

Manny Pacquiao posted a Bible verse on Instagram that called for gays “to be put to death” hours after the Filipino boxer was dropped by Nike on Wednesday.

The since-deleted post included a picture of his wife and excerpts from multiple Bible passages, including Leviticus 20:13: “If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.” 

That’s the same passage Pacquiao linked to four years ago. Pacquiao strongly denied he mentioned Leviticus 20:13 to a writer from the Examiner.com, which later retracted the story after a strong rebuke from the boxer. ​

“I didn’t say that, that’s a lie,” Pacquiao said in a statement at the time. “I didn’t know that quote from Leviticus because I haven’t read the Book of Leviticus yet.”

He’s apparently read that far since 2012. Pacquiao, who is slated to fight Timothy Bradley in Las Vegas on April 9, also cited Luke 6:22-23, Corinthians 6:9-10 and John 8:32.

“PAQ got in trouble for this, the man wears his religion in his sleeve,” one of his followers wrote.  “People need to get off his back.”

The post was up for a couple hours and received 15,000 “likes.”

Nike dropped Pacquiao in the wake of the boxer’s controversial remarks made in a television interview in his native Philippines where he said those in gay relationships “are worse than animals.”

“We find Manny Pacquiao’s comments abhorrent,” Nike said in a statement that announced the shoe and clothing giant had dropped Pacquiao on Wednesday.

Pacquiao, eventually, posted an apology of sorts on Facebook on Tuesday.

“I’m sorry for hurting people by comparing homosexuals to animals,” Pacquiao wrote. “Please forgive me for those I’ve hurt. I still stand on my belief that I’m against same sex marriage because of what the Bible says, but I’m not condemning LGBT. I love you all with the love of the Lord. God Bless you all and I’m praying for you.”

USA Today