The Family Leader, an ultra-conservative Christian group based in Iowa, recently created a document titled, “The Marriage Vow – A Declaration of Dependence upon Marriage and Family.” Presently, they are asking Republican presidential candidates to sign it, promising only those who do so will receive their endorsement.
Their signing deadline of August 1st has come-and-gone, but not before GOP candidates Michele Bachmann and Rick Santorum both signed on the dotted line.
This pledge, which opposes marriage equality absolutely, declares homosexuality a choice, asserting that family life for pre-Civil War slave children was not only preferable today but also more beneficial, as children “were more likely to be raised in a two-parent household” than “an African-American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President.”
This all might seem a touch ludicrous to some, with all the unabashed racism, sexism, and homophobia that it conjures up, but thinking so could lead to The Family Leader and its pledge being swiftly dismissed. These, however, are supposedly “mainstream” candidates campaigning to be president, an office which should allow no space for inflammatory declarations and blatant intolerance.
Bachmann, a member of the House of Representatives from Minnesota who won 52% of the vote in 2010, and Santorum, a former US Senator who lost in 2006 after capturing only 41% of the vote, both have media-induced reputations for being slightly beyond the pale. Sure, they provide a plethora of sound bites, but it’s truly beyond irresponsible to fail to examine their hard-line views.
After all, signing a “pledge” such as this one is a signifier that further displays for us the sort of social policies Bachmann or Santorum, if elected, will look to ram through.
Bachmann, for her part, is a product of the evangelical right wing, but not the gaffe-prone buffoon as some would like to believe; she embodies convictions deeply held by those on the ultra-conservative evangelical right. The anti-LGBT rhetoric she spews is nothing but the belief that not only should there be no equal rights for the LGBT community, but that being gay is “choice,” a “lifestyle,” and a “very sad life, it’s part of Satan.” Using the “choice” angle of debate is not a new weapon for the far right, one which they obviously feel justifies their penchant for mass discrimination.
Rick Santorum isn’t the blunderer he seems, either. In more than one interview since declaring his candidacy he has said that if elected he would support a constitutional amendment outlawing gay marriage. In regards to same-sex couples raising children, he also declares that it is “common sense” that we should not “defy nature” just because “a certain group of people want to be affirmed by society.” He even once compared same-sex marriage to bestiality. His anti-Islam views have been on full display, as well; he calls Sharia, or Islamic principles, “an existential threat” to America. In a “lecture on Islam,” Santorum laughably claimed that the Quran is written in “Islamic,” deftly showcasing his true understanding and tolerance of Islam and Muslims.
All this in mind, as we move closer to campaign chaos, these extreme, bigoted voices need to be taken to task.
Unalienable rights for all, obviously, will not be a campaign slogan that either camp boasts. Santorum and Bachmann have signed their names to a “pledge” that perpetuates ongoing discrimination, racism, and homophobia—their doing so should clearly signal that neither deserves to be treated as a serious presidential contender.