The Laramie Project

The Laramie Project

by

Moisés Kaufman

The Baptist Minister Character Analysis

The Baptist Minister is one of the most conservative ministers in Laramie and the head of a large congregation at the local Baptist church. The Baptist Minister considers himself a “Biblicist,” meaning that he believes in reading the Bible literally and word-for-word. The Baptist Minister, who is firmly against homosexuality, speaks on the phone with Amanda Gronich, telling her that, although he does not condone Matthew Shepard’s murder, he sees it as a kind of justice for Matthew’s gay “lifestyle.” In general, the Baptist Minister seems to see violence as a fitting punishment for what he deems to be moral transgressions, and while he believes that Matthew’s death was fitting punishment for his sexuality, he also believes that Aaron McKinney and Russell Henderson deserve the death penalty for their deeds. The Baptist Minister expresses an ideological orientation towards violence and offers an image of God and justice as vengeful and unforgiving.

The Baptist Minister Quotes in The Laramie Project

The The Laramie Project quotes below are all either spoken by The Baptist Minister or refer to The Baptist Minister. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Homophobia, Tolerance, and Acceptance Theme Icon
).
Act 2: Lifestyle 2 Quotes

Now, those two people, the accused… I think they deserve the death penalty…Now as for the victim, I know that that lifestyle is legal, but I will tell you one thing. I hope that Matthew Shepard as he was tied to that fence that he had time to reflect on a moment when someone had spoken the word of the Lord to him—and that before he slipped into a coma he had a chance to reflect on his lifestyle.

Related Characters: The Baptist Minister (speaker), Matthew Shepard, Aaron McKinney, Russell Henderson, Amanda Gronich
Related Symbols: The Fence
Page Number: 67-68
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire The Laramie Project LitChart as a printable PDF.
The Laramie Project PDF

The Baptist Minister Quotes in The Laramie Project

The The Laramie Project quotes below are all either spoken by The Baptist Minister or refer to The Baptist Minister. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Homophobia, Tolerance, and Acceptance Theme Icon
).
Act 2: Lifestyle 2 Quotes

Now, those two people, the accused… I think they deserve the death penalty…Now as for the victim, I know that that lifestyle is legal, but I will tell you one thing. I hope that Matthew Shepard as he was tied to that fence that he had time to reflect on a moment when someone had spoken the word of the Lord to him—and that before he slipped into a coma he had a chance to reflect on his lifestyle.

Related Characters: The Baptist Minister (speaker), Matthew Shepard, Aaron McKinney, Russell Henderson, Amanda Gronich
Related Symbols: The Fence
Page Number: 67-68
Explanation and Analysis: