He's not using his power as a religious authority to execute his rape, though; he's using that power to excuse it.
If he really wanted to, he could find any random kid walking along the street at night and rape him, but he wouldn't be able to justify it by saying he was trying to "cure" him. However, since he is a pastor, he's simply using this as a ploy to excuse his disgusting behavior (and it seems to be working, unfortunately).
This man's sick mind and the religion itself are totally unrelated.
Religion is one of the BIGGEST reasons people hate or try to cure gays anyways so yeah there are things to blame
