I wrestled with how to reconcile my Christian faith with my desire for Will to have the same opportunities to pursue happiness and fulfillment as his brother and sister. Ultimately, it came down to the Bible’s overarching themes of love and compassion and my belief that we are all children of God.
-- Senator Rob Portman (R-OH), on his recent change of heart regarding same-sex marriage, which he now supports.
That's nice and all, especially for his son Will, but I'm not quite ready to give Senator Portman a pass just yet and here's why.
For years, he was an outspoken Christian Conservative who not only voted in favor of a Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage back in 2004 but also supported the Christian Coalition's 2010 survey question on banning same-sex marriage.
For years, he was an outspoken Christian Conservative who not only voted in favor of a Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage back in 2004 but also supported the Christian Coalition's 2010 survey question on banning same-sex marriage.
Now, because he has a gay son, he has empathy for the issue and we're all supposed to applaud his about-face on the issue? Where was this empathy before the issue hit so close to home? Suddenly, Mr. Portman finds it okay to use the Bible's overarching themes of love and compassion and belief that we are all children of God to justify his newly-found beliefs?
Funny how those same themes didn't seem come into play back in the day.
An ally is an ally but coming around to the right side of history late is still late.
ReplyDeleteright? it's going to be interesting how he moves forward, since his constituents are all in a tizzy. his Facebook page and twitter feed is filled with some pretty hateful messages.
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