Tricky Ricky opines
There's been a lot of reaction to the Cali gay marriage decision, too much to track and comment on here. But I am moved to comment after last week's Inquirer column by former Senator Rick Santorum.
Guru Rick claims:
Look at Norway. It began allowing same-sex marriage in the 1990s. In just the last decade, its heterosexual-marriage rates have nose-dived and its out-of-wedlock birthrate skyrocketed to 80 percent for firstborn children.
Huh? How does legalizing same sex marriage lead to a drop in hetero marriage? Did all the straight guys go gay? Maybe all the straight guys became suddenly attracted to their dogs.
Then there's this nugget:
Is anyone saying same-sex couples can't love each other? I love my children. I love my friends, my brother. Heck, I even love my mother-in-law. Should we call these relationships marriage, too? Marriage is and always has been more than the acknowledgment of the love between two people.
Apples and oranges. I shouldn't even have to say this, but love for your kids or your brother or your mother-in-law is not the same as romantic love....unless Ricky's mother-in-law gives him a thrill up his leg.
But here's the real meat and the real problem with Santorum's op-ed:
There is a constitutional right that is under threat: the free exercise of religion.
Let me go out on another limb here and make another crazy prediction. Within 10 years, clergy will be sued or indicted for preaching on certain Bible passages dealing with homosexuality and churches, and church-related organizations will lose government contracts and even their tax-exempt status.
The idea that pastors will be sued or indicted for exercising their free speech and free expression rights is a straw man scare tactic. It is simply not true. Yes, faith groups' access to government funding may be, and should be, limited. But as long as the Constitution exists, preachers can say any crazy thing they please. And the ACLU will be right there to defend their right to do so.
Andy in Harrisburg
Labels: gay marriage, LGBT, Senator Rick Santorum
posted by ACLU of Pennsylvania at 5/30/2008 11:29:00 AM
1 Comments:
Santorum is Crazy! We know this, but honestly, you all elected him. ("you all" here refers to the majority of PA voters...not specifically to any one person)
I didn't even live in this state when Santorum was elected. I lived in Illinois. I was opposed to his election and hoped the people of PA wouldn't cave to his sort of simpleton antics, but alas they did and so now that I'm a PA resident, I've inherited this nut case.
Santorum has never been able to hold an argument against gay marriage or gay rights that had any foothold in reality. He comes up with outlandish claims that are laughable, but the sad truth is the "great unwashed" actually believe this wacko...and so many others like him.
Yes, Chuches SHOULD loose access to Government funds...it's the implied "seperation of Church and State" people! You want Government to not tell you how to pray...then DON'T Allow the Church to tell you how to VOTE!
I read so many articles from people angry at Father Pfleger in Chicago for what he said at the Trinity United Christian Church in Chicago about Clinton. They were angry that any Priest would make such comments regarding politics in a church. But this has been going on for as long as we've been a nation. The church building was always the community gathering place. It's where many elections were held "back in the day." But does it make it right now?
Do we remain stagnent and continue to allow the dangerous intermingling of Church and Politics when we know the damage it can and has caused?
I say "NO!" it's time to get serious about keeping Relion OUT of our GOVERNMENT!
Bush aided in blurring the lines with his "faith based initiatives" and it continues now. With Churches having access to Government funds, Preachers sermoning about Politics, Senators arguing "faith" and attempting to call it "fact."
When will the madness end?
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