State Senate candidate and Colorado Springs state Rep. Gordon Klingenchmitt is part-televangelist, part-politician and full-on, right-wing firebrand. Dr. Chaps, as his TV persona is called, is loud and proud about his evangelical beliefs, even when they hurt his political ambitions.
Not surprisingly, Klingenschmitt has plenty to say about the Supreme Court same-sex-marriage ruling. At this weekend’s Western Conservative Summit, he was unequivocal: “The Supreme Court is on the wrong side of history.”
The court not only overstepped its authority and violated the will of voters in states with same-sex marriage bans, he said, “But there is a higher law. Even if America’s law is going to be for gay marriage, that is far different than God’s law where Jesus declared in Matthew 19 that marriage is between one man and one woman.”
In Matthew 19, Jesus is not talking about homosexuality. He’s talking about divorce.
Letting gay couples marry is wrong, Klingenschmitt said, because the Bible says the point of marriage is procreative sex.
“One man and one woman make a baby. That’s just how it’s always been,” he said
For Klingenschmitt, to accept homosexuality as part of American family life is “to affirm — dare I even say the word — ‘sodomy’ as something that is good for society. It’s something that will be judged – if not in my lifetime than in eternity – by almighty God as something that is bad for America and deceptive to its citizens.”
Developments in reproductive technology now allow same-sex couples to have biologically-related children. But that doesn’t quite count for Klingenschmitt. “I set aside the biological nuance or the novelty of two eggs being joined together to create one new genetic thing. Because biologically, that’s not how it was from the beginning.”
In addition to sex and reproduction, Klingenschmitt also acknowledged other part of marriage: “The new slogan this week has been ‘love wins’ … but this is not love. There’s a difference between love and lust, and lust does not win. Lust is evil, and lust will always lose.”
But regardless of Klingenschmitt’s opinions on homosexual love, he knows the law is the law.
“OK. The ruling happened. Now what’s gonna come next? Now, I’ve made a prediction — and we’ve already seen signs of this — that the leftist, anti-Christian movement probably will go one of three directions.
“Number one: They will try to use this ruling as a precedent to re-educate public school children that ‘gay is good.’ …
“Number two: They’re going to use this to come after business owners — the bakers, the florists, the photographers — to try to force us to participate in someone else’s wedding against our conscience.
“And number three: They’re going to come after our tax exemptions for churches and faith-based organizations.”
Many on the right point to Solicitor General Donald B. Verrilli Jr.’s statement during oral arguments that the tax-exempt status of religious institutions “is going to be an issue” as proof that he intends to go after it. He made that comment in response to Justice Samuel Alito’s line of questioning about a 1983 Supreme Court ruling that denied a fundamentalist Christian University tax exemption because it forbid interracial marriage.
As for business owners, their conscience has already been a question in court. In 2013, a judge ruled that refusing to bake a cake for a gay wedding is discrimination. Other lawsuits involving Christian litigation group Alliance Defending Freedom and the rights of business owners have also gone in this direction.
Indeed, litigation on the three fronts he outlined is likely to follow soon, Klingenschmitt said.
“Ten, twenty years ago, the gay rights movement just wanted to be left alone in the privacy of their bedroom […] Now they’re being very aggressive and very pushy against people of faith.”
Klingenschmitt acknowledged that many people outside the convention center are happy.
“Let me offer the gay community my sincere congratulations,” he said. “They fought hard on this issue for decades. And they won. So for the time being, they may feel great political joy. Under American law they can now marry. But under God’s law, this will always be a sin.”
