Sen. Barack Obama's support for same-sex civil unions is nothing new. But on Sunday, he used Jesus' Sermon on the Mount to justify his stance.
During a town hall meeting in Nelsonville, Ohio, he said: "I don't believe in gay marriage, but I do think that people who are gay and lesbian should be treated with dignity and respect and that the state should not discriminate against them. So, I believe in civil unions. … If people find that controversial then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount. …"
News reports surmise he was referring to Matthew 7:12: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you."
Sen. Hillary Clinton also has expressed her support for civil unions. "It's a personal position," she said in August. "I am absolutely in favor of civil unions with full equality."
On Sunday, Obama went on to say: "In terms of my faith, you know, there has been so much confusion that has been deliberately perpetrated through e-mails and so forth. So, just here are the simple facts. I am a Christian. I am a devout Christian. I have been a member of the same church for 20 years. Pray to Jesus every night, and try to go to church as much as I can."
Pastor John Barner, manager of pastoral care at Focus on the Family, said: "We are always saddened as evangelical Christians when others who identify themselves as Christians do not have the high view of Scripture that we believe is so important. We believe isolated portions of Scripture should not be used to justify a personal preference or a social position that goes in a different direction than the overall message of Scripture.
"We believe Scripture is pretty clear in proscribing and affirming that marriage is to be an exclusive, lifetime relationship between a man and a woman. The compromising positions of these candidates are a disappointment to us as evangelical Christians."
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