Newt Gingrich, who has had three marriages and two marriage-ending affairs, recently told a conference call of Religious Right supporters that same-sex marriage is “pagan behavior” which represents “a fundamental violation of our civilization.”
Audio of Gingrich’s comments is below, courtesy of ThinkProgress:
“It’s pretty simple: marriage is between a man and a woman. This is a historic doctrine driven deep into the Bible, both in the Old Testament and in the New Testament, and it’s a perfect example of what I mean by the rise of paganism. The effort to create alternatives to marriage between a man and a woman are perfectly natural pagan behaviors, but they are a fundamental violation of our civilization.”
Gingrich’s biblical rhetoric shows that the former Speaker of the House is still actively trying to unite conservative Christians in support of his presidential campaign, but he may want to be careful when he encourages voters to think about “pagan behaviors.” Gingrich has, after all, admitted to two extra-marital affairs and supposedly asked his second wife for an open marriage.
People For the American Way’s Right Wing Watch blog, which originally uncovered the audio on Thursday, notes that Gingrich’s comments may not even be the most inflammatory thing about the call. Dan Wildmon, who participated, is the founder of the American Family Association, which is an SPLC-certified hate group. Furthermore, the call’s host Jim Garlow explained at one point that if President Obama is re-elected then “the United States as we know her will cease to exist as will, then, Western Civilization.”
