Op-ed:
Gay Marriage, Gay Weddings,
and the Candidates
By: Diane Sori / The Patriot Factor / Right Side Patriots on CPR Worldwide Media cprworldwidemedia.net

Last week was a busy week for the regime...first we had
Barack HUSSEIN Obama calling to task Senate Republicans for delaying a
vote on his attorney general nominee Loretta Lynch, and then Samantha
Power, our Ambassador to the U.N., telling the foreign operations
subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee that the U.S. would
continue to support Israel
“when it matters” but that Obama would NOT
rule out the possibility that the U.S. would support anti-Israel
resolutions at the U.N...or as I call them the U(seless) N(ations). Also, we had DEA agents once
again cavorting with hookers but NOT a one was fired, and a postal
worker went 'postal' and landed a gyrocopter on the White House lawn.
And let's NOT forget Hillary's big week as she and her mini-van headed
out to Iowa to 'test the waters' if you will. Let's
see...multimillionaire Ms. 'I Left the White House Broke' stiffed a
waitress of a tip, parked in a handicapped parking spot and was NOT
ticketed, and hid behind dark sunglasses so NO one would recognize
her...the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The 'Butcher of
Benghazi' did NOT want people to know it was her...one has to wonder
why.

But the big news story carried by all the media was...drum roll
please...Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio...and my personal
first choice...being asked in a recent interview with Fusion network's
Jorge Ramos if he would attend a gay wedding...oh the inhumanity of it
all.
Gay weddings have now become the media's cause de jour once again....yawn.
As if we did NOT have enough of this nonsense a few weeks ago with all
the bruhaha over wedding cakes and pizza being splashed all over the
news almost non-stop.
NOT jobs creation, our limping economy, immigration reform, sealing our
borders, Obama's sellout to Iran, or other issues of true importance but gay
weddings...a social issue...a state's issue...is what the left wants
brought to the forefront so it can divide we conservatives even more over
religious lines just like Mitt Romney being a Mormon was used by the
very same left...and successfully I might add...to get the
ubber-religious right in a tizzy. And while those candidates who have
declared they will run or those whose announcements are expected to come
shortly all hold the traditional view that marriage is between a man
and a woman, Marco Rubio dared to say that he would attend a gay
wedding, Ted Cruz told the media that since he had yet to be invited to
any gay weddings he does NOT know at this point in time if he would or
would NOT attend, while Jeb Bush as usual hemmed-and-hawed, and Rick
Santorum said he most assuredly would NOT.

“If it's somebody in my life that I care for, of course I would,” Rubio
said, adding that
“I'm not going to hurt them simply because I disagree
with a choice they made... you respect that because you love them.”
Very wise words in my opinion from a very wise man who knows that the
issue of gay marriage is a state's issue and who does NOT let his
personal religious beliefs...that marriage is between one man and one
woman...to overrule the love he might have for someone who he refuses to
define by their sexuality alone...as many sadly on our side do.
And what of the other 'in the media spotlight' Republican hopefuls...

Ted Cruz...my personal second choice...at least was honest enough to
say he's NOT sure and would decide when and if he was ever asked, but
also rightfully blamed the news media for trying to
“twist” the same-sex
marriage debate into a
“battle of emotions and personalities” that
comes off as though
“any conservative must hate people who are gay.” And
Cruz, like Rubio, also rightfully believes that questions about
marriage should be left to the states and NOT be decided in court.
Scott Walker has already attended a wedding reception for a gay member
of his family, while still holding onto his religious belief that
marriage should be between a man and a woman. And he too, like Rubio and
Cruz, believes this issue should be a state's issue and should be honored if
passed and becoming law.
Jeb Bush...my former once great Florida governor who should now just put a
'D' next to his name and be done with it...is a bit more accepting to
some degree of gay marriage and gay weddings in general. While NOT an
endorser of marriage equality he still believes that America needs all
forms of loving families, including loving same-sex parents who
“should
be held up as examples for others.” And one thing I will say in Jeb's
favor... maybe the only thing I can say in Jeb's favor right now...is that he too
knows this issue of gay marriage as a whole is a social issue and as
such belongs on the state's level, and said so during a recent Hannity
interview.
However, Rick Santorum...the darling of those basing their vote on their
religious convictions alone...emphatically said when asked if he would
attend a gay wedding,
“NO I would NOT...as a person of my faith, that
would be something that would be a violation of my faith.” But Santorum
added that he
“would love them and support them but NOT participate in
that ceremony.” Now my question to Rick Santorum is this...if you love
someone and support someone how can you turn your back on that someone
on what to them is the happiest day of their life...that is NOT love nor
is it support...it is hypocrisy plain and simple.

As for Mike Huckabee...a genuinely good and decent man but like Rick Santorum NOT
presidential material in my opinion (although he might might make a good
VP choice)...a man set to announce his presumed run for the presidency
on May 5th...but again like Santorum his stance on gay weddings mirrors
his personal religious convictions on gay marriage in general in that he
wants gay people...even those NOT of his personal religion...to practice his
religion by NOT getting married. Very odd stance from the man who has said
time and again on national television that he has close personal gay
friends.
And last comes Rand Paul...the Libertarian dressed in the guise of a
Republican... who has now flip-flopped to some degree in order to appear more conservative as just this past March, while
pandering for votes when speaking to a group of pastors in Washington
D.C., said that
“a moral crisis is leading people to believe that same-sex
marriage is acceptable...it's not.” This from the man who also like Rubio and Cruz once believed that gay
marriage was solely up to the states to decide whether to accept it or
NOT.

So why now has gay marriage and gay weddings suddenly become the issue de jour facing
the Republican candidates...first, because later this month or early
next month the Supreme Court is set to decide to either strike down the
remaining state bans on gay marriage or leave them in place. Second, because...gasp...gay marriage in general is becoming more
acceptable to people of both both parties. And third, because what
better way to divide we conservative than to drive a wedge between
religious conservatives and the growing number of non-religious conservatives.
Drive a wedge NO matter that Pew research polls show that 55% Americans
believe that homosexuality is something people are born with and
thus favor gay marriage, compared with just 21% of those who think it
is just the way that some people prefer to live. And 49% of those who
think homosexuality cannot be changed favor gay marriage, compared with
19% of those who think it can. And 51% believe homosexuality should be
accepted, while 42% disagree.
And according to the Public Religion Research Institute more than 62%
(6-in-10) of 'millennials' favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to
marry, 69% favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children, 71%
favor civil unions, and 79% favor employment discrimination protections
for gay and lesbian people. And 67% of non-Christian religiously
affiliated Americans, 52% Catholics, and 51% of white mainline
Protestants favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to marry.
But the bottom line in all this is people love who they love thus boiling this issue down to legalities on the state's
level in that committed gay couples need access to 'civil
marriage'...legally binding marriage...for the same reason that
heterosexual couples need it for only the law can create a family
relationship between adults that will be recognized by the state and
third parties...third parties like employers and insurance companies. And gay couples
want the cultural status of marriage...NOT just civil unions...because
that’s what people in general rightfully look for when they want to show
their family and friends their commitment to each other.

And gay couples
marrying in NO way affects traditional marriage for even traditional
marriage officiated by a clergyperson still needs governmental legal
status. And when you think about all the ubber religious who say that
marriage is all about reproduction just think about all the childless
'traditional' couples you know...because they could NOT reproduce
either by choice or by circumstances...does that damn them to hell in religious people's eyes...I would sincerely hope NOT.
So the bottom line is this...we have important issues facing 'We the People,' our country, and our
candidates right now...Iran, our unsealed borders, our limping economy,
those out to kill us all, just to name a few...who marries whom...who
shares ones bed with whom...who would or would NOT attend a gay wedding...should NOT and must NOT be one of them.
Focus people focus...the true issues and priorities for the candidates and for us
are in plain sight if you just open your eyes to see them.