var addthis_config = {“data_track_addressbar”:true};Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL) told Politico this morning that homosexuality is a “sin,” because his faith tells him it is. Rubio then shamelessly attempted to find middle ground, adding that his faith also says lying is a sin, as if that would soften the blow.
READ: Marco Rubio, Flirting With Creationism, Says, ‘I’m Not A Scientist, Man’
Asked by Politico’s Mike Allen, “Is homosexuality a sin?, Rubio responded, “I can tell you what faith teaches and faith teaches that it is.”
“And that’s what the Bible teaches and that’s what faith teaches. But it also teaches that there area bunch of other sins that are no less. For example, it teaches that lying is a sin. It teaches that disrespecting your parents is a sin. It teaches that stealing is a sin. It teaches that coveting your neighbor and what your neighbor has is a sin. So there isn’t a person in this room that isn’t guilty of sin. So, I don’t go around pointing fingers in that regard. I’m responsible for my salvation and I’m responsible for my family’s, and for inculcating in my family what our faith teaches, and they’ll become adults and decide how they want to apply that in life. As a policy maker, I could just tell you that I’m informed by my faith. And my faith informs me in who I am as a person — but not as a way to pass judgment on people.”
Rubio isn’t passing judgment on others — he’s relying on the Bible, religion, and his faith to do it for him.
READ:Â Rumored Romney Running Mate Marco Rubio Votes No On Violence Against Women Act
Note that Rubio rarely has a single solid position or belief on anything. “Faith,” for instance? Rubio, a Roman Catholic, attends both Roman Catholic and Southern Baptist churches.
Rubio got into a great deal of hot water recently when he said he didn’t know how old the earth is, saying it’s “one of the great mysteries†— a blatant attempt to garner favor with the radical anti-science religious right.
It backfired, and for weeks Rubio was the laughing stock of, well, most everyone except, of course, the radical anti-science religious right.
So now Rubio is recanting his anti-science comments on the age of the earth, but substituting anti-gay hate in its place, to ensure his religious bona fides are protected.
“Science says it’s about four and a half billion years old,†the Washington Post reports Rubio’s latest comments on the age of the earth, made at a Politico Playbook breakfast when asked about an interview in which he declined to name the Earth’s age.
“To the extent that there is any debate about the age of the Earth scientifically, I’m not in a position to mediate that.â€
He added that “there is no conflict†between science and his faith. God created the Earth, he said, “and scientific advances have given us insight into how he did it and when he did it.â€
As for Rubio’s anti-gay bona fides? No worries, they’re strong. N one can accuse Rubio of being soft on anti-gay hate. Rubio’s “suggestion that as a policy maker he does not ‘pass judgment’ is not backed up by his deeds,” Josh Israel at Think Progress writes. “Rubio opposed allowing same-sex couples in Florida to adopt children. He opposed allowing gay and lesbian members of the Armed Services to serve openly. He opposes making it illegal to fire someone just for being LGBT.”
Worse than his rigid opposition to legal recognition for same-sex couples, he recorded a robocallfor the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) last month. His message was part of an unsuccessful $500,000 campaign by the anti-LGBT group to encourage voters to oppose pro-equality candidates and ballot initiatives in the November elections. Despite Rubio’s efforts, voters rejected NOM’s positions in every single race and all four ballot questions.
Yes,using the gays to flex your religious bona fides has worked for decades, even centuries.
But Rubio, who is a mere 41, should know he’s playing a dangerous game.
And, losing.