Pastor, running for president, vows he won't turn Liberia into a Christian state

Sen. Prince Y. Johnson declared that he will not be involved in anything that would turn Liberia into a Christian state. Johnson, the leader of the Movement for Democracy and Reconstruction, insisted that all religious groups should be free to practice their religion without any prohibition.

"There shall be no Christian State or Islamic State established in this country. We are one people and we have co-existed for the past 200 years plus to now. Let no one or group of people put knife between our unity and peace," he proclaimed while speaking at his party headquarters in Monrovia.

Johnson is a Christian who is known to preach as a pastor every Sunday. He recently announced his plan to run for the president of Liberia in the 2017 elections.

A portion of the nation's Christian population is reportedly campaigning to make Liberia a Christian state. The proposition became controversial even among Christian leaders.

Bishop Jonathan B.B. Hart, the head of the Liberia Council of Churches, denounced the proposal to Christianize Liberia and said that the nation should remain secular. Liberian Muslims reportedly threatened to engage in civil disobedience if the proposition is passed.

Johnson recently proposed a controversial bill that seeks to declare two national holidays for Muslims. Several pastors criticized the bill as "harmful" and claimed that it violated the constitution.

The senator also declared that his administration will not accept gay rights. "Liberia is not Sodom and Gomorrah! We will not accept that here," he said.

Johnson once led the rebel group Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia (INPFL) which was notorious for committing hideous crimes. The INPFL was known for torturing and killing President Samuel Doe in 1990. Johnson stated that he still regrets t that Liberians once had to fight each other, referring to the Liberian civil war.