Land at Sea Over Iowa Marriage Equality - The Queers are Coming!

Richard Land is the president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Mr. Land is also not content with the freedom to practice his religion; he seeks to impose it on everyone else. Furthermore, Land suggests that gay people pose some sort of threat to others. As a guest columnist in today's Christian Post, Land writes:

"'Wedding' Bells Rng Off Key in Nation's Heartland"

Note the gratuitous and  petty use of the quotation marks around the word wedding. Sorry Richard. Gays can marry in more and more locales. Their bind is lawful regardless of how much you deprecate the commitment. But I digress.

Land goes on to explain:

"It has been my contention for some time that each state needs to have in place a constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between one man and one woman. Without such an amendment, a state’s activist Supreme Court can overturn a law adopted by the legislature, declaring it to be unconstitutional. … Once again, it was the judiciary branch of state government rending the nation’s moral fabric, bent on rewriting our country’s social construct."

Why is it that every jurist who renders a decision that the right wing evangelical Christians don't like is an activist? Judges are supposed to invalidate laws that are unconstitutional. I would remind Land that the decision was unanimous and the the Chief Judge was appointed by a conservative  Republican governor. What Land is calling for is state-sponsored bigotry to coincide with his religious beliefs. The Iowa Court addressed this issue. Frankly, Mr. Land, I was brought up to believe that the "nation's moral fabric" was defined by a commitment to equality and freedom.

Land goes on to pontificate:

"This ruling turns Iowa into a destination for same-sex 'marriages.' No doubt there are weekend travel packages already being planned. Iowa will soon be the Las Vegas of same-sex “marriage” for America." 

Sounds good to me. Yet another reason for Nevada to do the same.

"And you know those folks won’t be resettling in the Hawkeye State, but will be heading back home–perhaps to your state."

Oh my! The queers are coming! The queers are coming!

What Land is disgracefully suggesting is that people have reason to fear gays. Presumably those committed couples are already living together. However, by getting married in another state and then returning home  (with a marriage that probably won't be recognized), they pose some sort of threat to others. Not surprisingly, Land does not specify what that threat is or who is threatened. Land is promoting homophobia in the true sense of the word. Trying to instill unwarranted fear over a group's differences is the worst kind of bigotry.

Who is next, Mr. Land? Who is next?