When The Guardian told Alabama U.S. Senate candidate Roy Moore (R) that Ronald Reagan once called Russia “the focus of evil in the modern world,” Moore replied, “You could say that very well about America, couldn’t you?”
He added: “We promote a lot of bad things,” specifically citing same-sex marriage.
When the reporter suggested that’s an argument Vladimir Putin makes, Moore said, “Well, then maybe Putin is right. Maybe he’s more akin to me than I know.”
“The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to hear an appeal from a Colorado baker with religious objections to same-sex marriage who had lost a discrimination case for refusing to create a cake to celebrate such a union,” the New York Times reports.
“The case will be a major test of a clash between laws that bar businesses open to the public from discriminating based on sexual orientation and claims of religious freedom. Around the nation, businesses like bakeries, florists and photography studios have said, so far with little success, that forcing them to serve gay couples violates their constitutional rights.”
A new Pew Research survey finds that by a margin of nearly two-to-one, 62% to 32%, more Americans now say they favor allowing gays and lesbians to marry than say they are opposed.
“Views on same-sex marriage have shifted dramatically in recent years. As recently as 2010, more Americans opposed (48%) than favored (42%) allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally. In the past year alone, support has increased seven percentage points.”
A new Gallup poll finds 64% of U.S. adults say same-sex marriages should be recognized by the law as valid.
“Although not meaningfully different from the 61% last year, this is the highest percentage to date and continues the generally steady rise since Gallup’s trend began in 1996.”
Pat Robertson said on The 700 Club that homosexuals have taken over the media and universities.
Said Robertson: “We have given the ground to a small minority. You figure, lesbians, one percent of the population; homosexuals, two percent of the population. That’s all. That’s statistically all. But they have dominated — dominated the media, they’ve dominated the cultural shift and they have infiltrated the major universities.”
He added: “It’s just unbelievable what’s being done. A tiny, tiny minority makes a huge difference. The majority — it’s time it wakes up.”
Ben Carson urged a conservative audience to be strong in their faith and stand by their beliefs in the face of “ever-growing government,” the Springfield News-Leader reports.
He said that tyranny will reign otherwise, “and there will be mass killings once again. The peace that we experience now will be a memory only. This is the nation that stands between peace and utter chaos.”
When asked later how he thought such a grim future might come about, Carson referenced “the whole gay marriage issue.”
He added: “I believe the reason is, if you can change the word of God in one area, then you can change it in every area. It’s the camel’s nose under the tent, and it will just be an avalanche of one thing after the other.”
“With the Republican National Convention less than two weeks away, moderate Republicans are drafting an amendment that would soften the GOP’s official position on gays and lesbians,” CBS News has learned.
“Outside Republican groups have been publicly pushing the party to modify its stance on same-sex marriage for over a year, but multiple sources told CBS News that the effort has officially taken hold among a group of platform committee members who are furiously polishing their amendment ahead of the party gathering in Cleveland.”
“It’s unclear if Donald Trump, the party’s likely nominee, supports the changes or is actively involved in shaping the platform. Perhaps more surprising than the effort itself is the fact that staunch social conservatives from the Midwest and South are prepared to accept rhetorical tweaks.”
Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi (R) had some trouble defending her position on gay rights in a CNN interview.
Former Sen. Harris Wofford (D-PA) writes in the New York Times that he’s getting married again — but this time to a man.
“Matthew is very different from Clare. The political causes that continue to move me do not preoccupy him, nor have I turned my priorities to design, the focus of his driving talent. Still, the same force of love is at work bringing two people together.”
“Twice in my life, I’ve felt the pull of such passionate preference. At age 90, I am lucky to be in an era where the Supreme Court has strengthened what President Obama calls ‘the dignity of marriage’ by recognizing that matrimony is not based on anyone’s sexual nature, choices or dreams. It is based on love.”
Washington Post: “Battles erupting across the country over gay rights and other social issues have put Republican candidates in a pinch, deepening fissures between the business interests and social conservatives whose support they depend on and forcing them to go on the defensive nationally amid changing cultural winds.”
“In the past month, three states have passed laws intended to protect rights of those who oppose same-sex marriage and half a dozen have enacted new abortion restrictions. And in Tennessee this week, the legislature passed a law making the Bible the official state book.”
“Republicans, already girding for their most tumultuous convention in decades, now have another fight brewing: a divisive battle over gay marriage on the party’s official national platform,” Politico reports.
“It’s an issue that drives intense passion, and one that splits the mainstream and evangelical wings of the GOP. With the convention less than four months away, both sides are mobilizing in anticipation of a bitter clash over whether the party should embrace a more moderate approach to gay nuptials in keeping with a public that is more open to it — or maintain the hard line the party’s base demands.”
Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore issued an order saying that a ruling issued last March by the Alabama Supreme Court remains in effect and that probate judges “have a ministerial duty not to issue any marriage license contrary” to Alabama’s law and constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, the Birmingham News reports.
Pastor Kevin Swanson, who led a conference featuring Republican presidential candidates, said at the same event how he would react to his son marrying another man.
Said Swanson: “What would you do if that was the case? Here is what I would do: sackcloth and ashes at the entrance to the church and I’d sit in cow manure and I’d spread it all over my body. That’s what I would do and I’m not kidding, I’m not laughing.”
Pope Francis secretly met Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis “who was jailed for refusing to issue marriage licenses to gay couples and gave her words of encouragement,” Reuters reports.
A Vatican spokesman “said he would neither confirm nor deny the report and that there would be no further statement. This was unusual for the Vatican, which normally issues either denials or confirmations.”
Rick Klein: “It’s little surprise that this or any pope would stand up against gay marriage. But having spent time with this particular county clerk – the very public face of outright defiance of the US Supreme Court – has specific ramifications that surely the pope and those around him are aware of. Maybe that was the point – in which case conservatives have every bit as much of the right to cite this papal visit’s political message as their liberal friends.”
Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia “criticized judges who believe the Constitution is a ‘living’ document, saying they amount to policy makers who are rewriting it and making moral decisions for the entire country about same-sex marriage and other issues,” the AP reports.
He also referred to this summer’s same-sex marriage ruling as “extreme.”
Said Scalia: “They’re not adhering to the text, they’re operating as policy makers. They’re not interpreting the constitution. They’re writing one, they’re revising one.”