Tony Perkins: 'Real Religious Freedom' Does Not Apply To Pro-Gay Christians

Tony Perkins, president of the Christian conservative Family Research Council (FRC), last week suggested that religious freedom does not apply to Christian denominations that support gay rights.

The Cleveland, Ohio-based United Church of Christ (UCC) and a dozen clergy members have filed a federal lawsuit challenging North Carolina's ban on gay marriage, arguing that the ban violates their First Amendment right to religious freedom.

(Related: United Church of Christ challenges North Carolina's gay marriage ban.)

The UCC, which has more than 1 million members, is one of a handful of denominations that bless the marriages of gay couples.

When a caller to Washington Week asked Perkins his views on the case, Perkins argued that religious freedom only applies to “orthodox religious viewpoints.”

“I would use that term 'Christian' loosely,” Perkins answered. “That title is – let’s talk biblical. Here’s the deal. It’s like with the Religious Freedom Restoration Act that we worked on in Mississippi and failed in Arizona and other places. Here’s a test of what is a true religious freedom: a freedom that’s based on orthodox religious viewpoints. It has to have a track record, it has to come forth from religious orthodoxy.”

“You cannot point to the Christian faith and say that same-sex marriage has been a key teaching of the church. You can only point to the opposite, that the church has stood against sexual immorality in terms of sexual relations of those outside of marriage and in particular homosexual behavior. There is no place, there is nothing for them to stand on and say that same-sex marriage has standing in the orthodox Christian faith.”

“They’re playing games here, trying to turn the effort that so many Americans are now faced with of preserving religious freedom, they’re now trying to do a jujitsu move and say, ‘We’re going to use religious freedom to say we have a right to do same-sex marriage.’ Well, there is no foundation for that, there is no orthodox Christian holding that has ever said marriage is between people of the same sex.”