Religion - The Sole Basis For Opposition to Gay Rights

I have long maintained that the Christofascists hate gays because our very existence and normalcy suggest that the Bible's supposed prohibitions on same sex relationships is perhaps false.  For those who for whatever twisted psychological reasons cannot deal with uncertainty or anything that suggests that they cannot be assured of a good after life by dutifully checking off the boxes on the church sponsored check lists, this is absolutely terrifying.  And despite efforts to depict opposition to gay rights as based on anything but pure religious animus - e.g., the bogus Regnerus "study" and claims of faux experts are examples of this - in the final analysis religion is the sole justification for anti-gay laws.  Stupidly, in my view, many of the more recent Christofascists protests ranging from The Family Foundation outside the Norfolk federal courthouse to NOM's failed "March for Marriage" only have served to underscore this reality.  Think Progress interviewed some of the participants at NOM's pathetic event who by their statements highlighted religious based discrimination - something already illegal even in Virginia - was their true motivation.  Here are highlights:

The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) hosted its second annual “March For Marriage” Thursday in front of the U.S. Capitol, a rally with speakers opposing same-sex marriage followed by a march to the Supreme Court. An estimated 2,000 people participated, many of whom had traveled by bus from New Jersey and New York City. After last year’s march, which was held in conjunction with the Supreme Court hearing on the Defense of Marriage Act, NOM attempted to inflate the numbers, but this year’s crowd was smaller than even the most conservative estimates from last year.

Both on the dais and in the crowd, religious beliefs were the driving force behind attendees’s opposition to same-sex marriage.

ThinkProgress spoke with several members of the crowd to get a sense of why they were participating, and most cited their religious beliefs as their primary motivation. In particular, many were religious leaders themselves or specifically came to the march with a church group.  

Mary from Virginia Beach explained to ThinkProgress that she is a devout Catholic who believes that marriage is a covenant between a man, a woman, and God, and “we cannot change what the Bible defines.” She actually suggested that she would be okay with civil unions for same-sex couples, but she was also concerned that children would read books and learn that same-sex marriage is okay, even though it’s against their families’ beliefs . . . she believes that acting on homosexuality is a sin.

Jasmine came to the march from New York City because she was asked to by her church: “I was told by my church ministry to come out here and support what we believe in, which is a man and a woman to get married and unite and have children… If a man and a man were to get married, that would violate that law.” 

Some said that they believe that there are consequences to legalizing same-sex marriage. A.J. from New Jersey told ThinkProgress that he believes God might flood the world like he did in the times of Noah as punishment for society’s sexual sins

Emily came from Jersey City, New Jersey because she believes that “homosexual marriage” is “completely immoral and wrong.” She doesn’t want the kids she’ll eventually have to live through this because “you want your society to be the way you are.” Joe rode down to the march with his church from the Bronx. Since New York passed same-sex marriage, he has noticed same-sex couples holding hands in public more often, admitting, “It makes me uncomfortable.”

The "godly Christian" crowd consistently depicts gays as being "sick" and "broken" yet in reality, it is they themselves who are the ones who are sick and broken - mentally ill, perhaps.