Televangelist Pat Robertson this week
told The 700 Club viewers that gay marriage is an
“abomination.”
The 81-year-old Christian conservative
made his remarks after a segment on New York clerks who have refused
to sign the marriage licenses of gay and lesbian couples.
On Tuesday, clerk Rose Marie Belforti,
who continues to turn away gay couples, survived a write-in
challenger in her re-election race.
“Isn't it a shame that this kind of
thing has come up. It's what the Bible calls an abomination. It's
one thing to say these folks should have all the freedom and all the
rights of any citizen, that's the American way, but marriage
particularly is a sacrament of the church and the fact that they have
civil ceremonies and civil clerks that sign licenses it's not the
same thing as marriage. And the homosexuals want to have the
imprimatur of the church on their lifestyle, that’s what this is
all about. They don't want to have anybody say what they're doing is
sinful. So these clerks have stand [sic] up as prisoners of
conscience and it looks like a steamroller is taking them out of the
way, but we'll see what happens. You know, sometimes a few brave
people have changed the course of history,” Robertson said. (The
video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)
(Related: Pat
Robertson says gay marriage will bring the wrath of God.)