Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr
Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann yesterday attended a church here in Iowa, where the pastor called homosexuality "immoral" and "unnatural," and later showed a testimonial video from a man who claimed to have been gay before having a conversation with God. Before the sermon at Point of Grace Church -- a non-denominational congregation near Des Moines -- Bachmann stood with her husband, Marcus Bachmann, before a crowd of about 100 people, clutching her personal copy of the Bible.
Pastor Jeff Mullen, standing next to Bachmann, took her Bible his hand. “There are some candidates who start running, and have this come-to-Jesus moment,” he said. "What I love about this Bible,” he said, “is how well it's used.” [...] When Bachmann and her husband returned to their seats, Mullen began a half-hour presentation on his church's beliefs. Reading verses from the Bible to support his case, Mullen said, "We inherently know that homosexual behavior is immoral and unnatural." Mullen’s sermon concluded with video testimonial from a man named Adam Hood, who claims to have been gay before experiencing a conversation with God. "I am so happy God has given me natural affection for a woman," Hood said in the video, adding that his wife is nine months pregnant. "We need to have compassion for people that are bound by that sin," Hood added. "And it is a sin. Call a spade a spade."It would be difficult for me to say with the slightest modicum of honesty that I could ever truly consider this woman a viable candidate for the presidency. In an age where it seems we've made such great strides in the cause for gay rights: to have a woman who seems unabashedly determined to destroy the progress we've made, it's laughable that she should be taken seriously. And the connection with faith does little to mitigate the harm caused to her viability. If you have views, that's acceptable, but it's a matter of repugnance should you attempt to spread those views to the detriment of those around you. Jefferson said, with regard to religion, "But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no God. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg." I think sexuality is the same, in many ways.
CUOMO, THE HERO: New York governor Andrew Cuomo talks about the state’s recent marriage equality win, the personal reasons behind his leadership, and his commitment to keeping the momentum going. "Cuomo, who was secretary of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton and subsequently New York State’s attorney general, was elected governor by a landslide on a reform platform last year. He embodies politics as the art of the possible. Faced with a Republican-controlled Senate, he completed the most successful legislative session in recent history, including a rare on-time budget marked by fiscal conservatism. Then he turned to his campaign promise to legalize same-sex marriage." He deserves all of the admiration he has thus far received.