Washington D.C., Mar 6, 2008 / 03:09 am
Democrat presidential candidate Senator Barack Obama in a speech before a Hocking College crowd on Sunday claimed that the Sermon on the Mount justifies his support for legal recognition of same-sex unions, Cybercast News Service reports.
Obama’s speech drew perplexed responses from commentators who did not see the connection.
"I don't think it [a same-sex union] should be called marriage, but I think that it is a legal right that they should have that is recognized by the state," said Obama. "If people find that controversial then I would just refer them to the Sermon on the Mount, which I think is, in my mind, for my faith, more central than an obscure passage in Romans."
The Sermon on the Mount, as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew, includes the Beatitudes, an endorsement of scriptural moral commandments, and condemnations of murder, divorce, and adultery. The passage in Romans (1:27) referred to by Obama condemns those who have rejected their creation in God’s image by their actions, among the acts mentioned is homosexual sex.