Social issues After the
August 2017 white supremacist rally in
Charlottesville, Virginia, that left one woman dead, Jeffress condemned
white supremacy: "Let there be no misunderstanding. Racism is sin. Period." In a separate interview, he stated that "all racism" is "repulsive and totally contradictory to the teaching of God". In an interview with CBN, Jeffress commented on racial issues, saying that "There has been a failure on the part of the Church, even a failure on conservative Christians in decades past, to denounce racism, to embrace
segregation, which is so wrong." He added, "I think we did have some catching up to do but I think that in this environment, we need to say clearly, that racism is abhorrent in the eyes of God." A staunch opponent of
same-sex marriage and
LGBT rights, Jeffress has claimed that gay marriage is "counterfeit" and has repeatedly targeted homosexuality in his sermons, saying that gay sexual practices are "filthy", "degrading ... beyond description", and "so much more prone to disease". After the
church shooting in Charleston in June 2015, Jeffress was on Fox News and referred to the attack as "pure, unadulterated evil." Jeffress supports
COVID 19 vaccination, Jeffress stated, “There is no credible religious argument against the vaccines.” In January 2025, Jeffress denounced Episcopal Bishop
Mariann Budde for asking President Trump to have "mercy" on undocumented immigrants and their families as well as
LGBT adolescents, saying Budde had "insulted rather than encouraged the President."
Other religions Jeffress believes that the teachings of Judaism, Islam, Mormonism, and Hinduism reject "the truth of Christ", and that their adherents "will go to hell if they do not accept Christ." In a sermon in August 2010, Jeffress said that
Muhammad and
Islam promoted
pedophilia, referring to
Aisha's age at marriage. Also in 2010, Jeffress referred to
Roman Catholicism as a "Satanic" result of "
Babylonian mystery religion". In another interview the same year, he said, "
Mormonism is wrong, it is a heresy from the pit of Hell;
Judaism, you
can't be saved being a Jew, you know who said that by the way, the three greatest Jews in the New Testament,
Peter,
Paul, and
Jesus Christ, they all said
Judaism won't do it, it's faith in Jesus Christ." In October 2011, at the
Values Voter Summit, Jeffress called
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) "a
cult." He received widespread criticism for the statement but did not retract it despite
Mitt Romney's request for him to do so. In December 2010, Jeffress established a "Naughty and Nice List" in which businesses were identified based on whether or not they openly celebrated
Christmas: "I wanted to do something positive to encourage businesses to acknowledge Christmas and not bow to the strident voices of a minority who object to the holiday." In June 2015, Jeffress compared the experience of conservative Christians in America to the experience of Jews in the
Holocaust, for which he was sharply criticized by Rabbi
Jack Moline, the then-executive director of the
Interfaith Alliance. In December 2016, Jeffress said in an interview that he believes Christians are being "marginalized and attacked". On April 27, 2023, he was awarded the
Friends of Zion award in Jerusalem where he asserted the neighborly relations with Saudi Arabia would improve if Donald Trump was elected U.S. president in 2024. ==Political activity==