Appearing Sunday on CBS' Face the
Nation, Family Research Council (FRC) President Tony Perkins
denied he called for the impeachment of Supreme Court justices who
side with plaintiffs in a case challenging gay marriage bans in four
states.
Justices will hear arguments in the
case on Tuesday, with a ruling expected in June.
Host Bob Schieffer welcomed Perkins to
the show by asking him if his group had taken their opposition to
marriage equality “too far.”
“Mr. Perkins, I'm going to say this
to you upfront. You and your group have been so strong in coming out
against this and against gay marriage that the Southern Poverty Law
Center has branded the Family Research Council an anti-gay hate
group,” Schieffer said. “We have been inundated by people who
say we should not even let you appear, because in their view 'you
don't speak for Christians.' Do you think you have taken this too
far?”
Perkins answered “no” and went on
to defend saying that allowing gay couples to marry nationwide would
lead to an “open season on people of faith.”
“This is what's at stake here, Bob.
This is not about the marriage altar. This is about fundamentally
altering the culture,” he said.
When asked if he called for the
impeachment of Supreme Court justices who rule against state marriage
bans, Perkins answered: “No. I didn't say that.”
But on Thursday, Perkins agreed with
radio host Jan Mickelson when he called on Congress to “remove”
the high court's “jurisdiction” over the marriage issue and
“nullify” its decision, which would warn justices “if you try
it again, we will impeach your sorry keisters.”
“I think you're absolutely right,”
Perkins
told Mickelson.
“I didn't say anything about
impeachment of the judges,” Perkins
said Sunday. “What I said, they're not the final say on this
issue.”