Pastor Opening Christian Military Academy to Combat LGBTQ 'Teachings'

Pro-Trump Pastor Mark Burns recently announced the creation of his own Christian military academy, citing plans to combat LGBTQ+ "teachings."

In a Facebook post earlier this month, Burns, a South Carolina pastor who was named by Time Magazine as "Donald Trump's Top Pastor," announced plans for his Christian military academy, saying, "Our mission is to provide an affordable, pro-American education with a strong emphasis on biblical teachings, and to create an environment where children can learn and grow without the need for discipline or court-ordered attendance."

"Our school aims to instill good morals and a love for our country in our students while ensuring that they are not exposed to LGBTQ, CRT, or 'woke' teachings. We believe that our children are more than capable of making their own decisions and that they deserve a safe and nurturing environment to thrive in," the post said.

The post added that students will wear "military-inspired" uniforms and noted that they will be encouraging "parents, grandparents, and mentors to participate by wearing the uniform, fostering a sense of community and support."

In a statement to Newsweek on Wednesday, Burns said: "I believe it is the obligation for the Body of Christ to protect our children from such liberal unbiblical ideologies, which is why I've founded the Burns Military Christian Academy. Our focus is not to wish harm on any LGBTQ persons but to pray for them and show them the love of Jesus Christ while teaching against that and other sinful lifestyles that the Bible warns us against."

"We are at the very beginning stages of our school with the goal of launching in the Fall of 2024. The term 'Military' is only used because we believe that we are in the Army of the Lord and believe in teaching our students good morals, discipline and respect for adults. We are not affiliated in anyway with the US Military. Our Goal is to give our students a pro-American education with a Christian emphasis to prepare them for college, technical school or apprenticeship in a skilled position and to grow into adults that have good high morals," Burns added in the statement.

The comments by Burns come as many conservatives continue to take aim at "woke" agendas, claiming that many schools in the United States are aiming to promote these ideas to children. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has called for bans on numerous "inappropriate" books and passed legislation to stop schools from teaching students about gender identity and sexual orientation.

"In Florida, pornographic and inappropriate materials that have been snuck into our classrooms and libraries to sexualize our students violate our state education standards. Florida is the education state and that means providing students with a quality education free from sexualization and harmful materials that are not age-appropriate," DeSantis said in an announcement in March.

Burns appeared at a ReAwaken America event earlier this month in Florida, where he spoke about Trump and how he believes the former president will return to office in 2024.

"Donald Trump just called me on the phone a couple of days ago, and I want to tell you I'm telling the world that we are getting this nation ready for the return of Donald J. Trump," Burns said during the event. "Donald Trump is ready to come back, but he needs to make sure he's got warriors ready to stand with him. We don't care about those indictments. We don't care about those arrests."

Just before ending his speech, Burns said, "I got one thing to say, we are just about to launch, in 2024, a brand new Christian military academy called Burns Christian Military Academy to save our children from the evil public school systems."

Update 10/18/23, 11:10 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include a statement from Mark Burns.