Televangelist Pat Robertson last week
warned of a government “vendetta” against opponents of gay
marriage if the Supreme Court strikes down state gay marriage bans.
The high court will rule this month in
a case challenging bans in Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee and Kentucky.
The ruling could abolish the nation's remaining 13 bans.
“Isn't it chilling to think that a
practice that was abhorrent and stigmatized for so many years has now
become the dominant weapon of the Left to hurt those who share
traditional values?” he rhetorically asked his The 700 Club
viewers.
Robertson said that the case was
analogous to the Supreme Court's 1983 decision in Bob Jones
University v. US, in which the court found that the IRS did not
violate the Constitution when it revoked the university's tax exempt
status over its rules barring interracial dating.
“Bob Jones never prohibited men and
women of different races from getting married, they never had any
laws, as I understand, they merely said in their statement of faith,
they didn’t believe that the Bible supported interracial marriage
and interracial activity. That was their belief,” Robertson
said.
“Now, think what's going to happen to
those who clearly read the Bible that a relationship between a man
and a man is an abomination before the Lord. What are they going to
do? Well, that means that people who broadcast that, people who have
stations that broadcast that, people who are involved in schools that
teach that, whether they are elementary schools, high schools,
colleges, etc. The whole weight of the federal government will come
down upon them and suddenly there will be a vendetta against those
who merely say we believe the Bible says this. Is that what we
want?”
Right Wing Watch points out that
Robertson broadcasts his opposition to marriage equality from
Virginia, a state where gay couples can marry, without facing any
legal consequences.