Glenn Beck Says Gay Marriage 'No Threat' To America
David Gibson
"You can argue about abortion or gay marriage or whatever else you want," Beck told O'Reilly, according to the Fox News transcript. "Instead of arguing about these divisive things, let's get back into our churches and our synagogues . . . "
When asked if gay marriage was a threat to America -- a tenet of faith to many conservative Christians -- Beck said, "No."
"I believe that Thomas Jefferson said, 'If it neither breaks my leg or picks my pocket, what difference is it to me?' "
[Transcript is reprinted below]
That's actually a new position for Beck, who in the past has decried gay marriage as leading inevitably to polygamy and incest, and other things that would destroy American society.
But the political dynamic has changed. The unexpected rise of the Tea Party movement has stolen some of the thunder from the Religious Right this season, and sparked some dissension within the conservative ranks -- as PoliticsDaily reported -- between Tea Party libertarians and moral conservatives. Beck's unapologetic abdication on abortion and gay marriage, at least as campaign issues, could well revive those tensions, and at a time when Republicans are hoping to ride both the Tea Party tiger and traditional religious conservatism to a resounding victory in the November midterms.
But Beck is nothing if not savvy, and he may recognize that the economy is going to trump hot-button morality this year, as The Washington Post's Dan Balz reported.
Such calculations aren't going to mollify Christian conservatives, of course.
"He's a libertarian entertainer acting like a libertarian entertainer," Joe Carter, who worked for Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign, wrote at the blog of First Things, the theo-con journal where he is currently Web editor. "But he is a very influential libertarian entertainer, and that worries me."
In the relevant segment of Beck's interview (click here for video), O'Reilly challenges Beck, saying that people won't go back to their houses of worship if they don't have the kind of motivation the gay marriage issue provides. But Beck protests that moral issues like those have nothing to do with the threats to America today:
BECK: Here's the reason, America. Your country is burning down. I don't think marriage, that the government actually has anything to do with . . .
O'REILLY: But they do have . . .
BECK: That is a religious rite. [Referring to the sacrament of marriage]
O'REILLY: I know, but they do have something to do, because gay marriage is going to be a reality in this country in 10 years.
BECK: Why do they have anything to do with it?
O'REILLY: Because they choose to, and you're not going to stop them, all right?
BECK: Actually, this is where we disagree.
O'REILLY: The Supreme Court may rule against gay marriage. Very possible.
BECK: You're willing to continue to go down the road of just accepting "well that's the way it is."
O'REILLY: I'm not accepting anything. I wrote a book about it. Don't give me this accept. Come on.
BECK: He's so hostile.
O'REILLY: Yes. I have to correct you. You are ignoring the profound change in the American family.
BECK: No, I'm not.
O'REILLY: But you're not covering it.
BECK: Because I think that the thing that needs to be covered -- Bill, I believe in a symphony. If we're all playing clarinets, we ain't going to get very far. A symphony needs to sound. I'm covering what I cover. You cover what you cover. Both of us are saying the same thing. Watch the culture.
O'REILLY: Do you believe -- do you believe that gay marriage is a threat to the country in any way?
BECK: A threat to the country?
O'REILLY: Yes. Is it going to harm?
BECK: No. Are the gay -- will the gays come and get us?
O'REILLY: OK. Is it going to harm the country in any way?
BECK: I believe that Thomas Jefferson said, "If it neither breaks my leg or picks my pocket, what difference is it to me?"