Former president Jimmy Carter on
Wednesday reiterated his belief that Jesus would have supported
marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples.
The one-term Democratic president is
currently pitching his latest book A
Full Life: Reflections at Ninety.
In an interview with the AP, Carter, an
ordained Baptist minister, said that his faith is the basis for his
opposition to most abortions. But he added that he's concluded that
Jesus Christ would be a supporter of marriage equality.
“He always was for the downtrodden,
the outcast, the despised, people who had suffered in the past from
discrimination,” said
Carter. “The number one word we ascribe to Jesus would be
love. When two people are honestly in love and they want to bind
their love affair in a more legal fashion through marriage and it
doesn't hurt anyone else, then I don't see why Jesus wouldn't have
been for it.”
Carter made a similar declaration last
week during an interview with HuffPost Live.