Ben Carson just announced he is officially running for president. He was once a respected pediatric neurosurgeon at the prestigious Johns Hopkins University. Now he’s known for his offensive and often illogical and ignorant comments. Here are some of the worst things he’s said about gay people, homosexuality, and same-sex marriage.
1. Ben Carson thinks being gay is a choice, because people, he thinks, apparently choose to do so in prison.
"Because a lot of people who go into prison go into prison straight -- and when they come out, they're gay. So, did something happen while they were in there? Ask yourself that question," Carson said.
2. He mentioned LGBTQ people, pedophiles, and bestiality in the same sentence, as if they are all part of the same group and should be treated the same way.
"No group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA [the North American Man/Boy Love Association], be they people who believe in bestiality, it doesn’t matter what they are, they don’t get to change the definition. So it’s not something that’s against gays, it’s against anybody who wants to come along and change the fundamental definitions of pillars of society. It has significant ramifications,” he said.
3. Because God says that it’s an "abomination."
"How I feel and what I think isn’t just my opinion. God in his Word says very clearly that he considers homosexual acts to be an ‘abomination.’" he said.
4. And when he tried to explain his comments, he made zero sense.
“There is no group. I wasn’t equating those things, I don’t think they’re equal. Just, you know, if you ask me for apple and I give you an orange you would say, well that’s not an orange. And then I say, that’s a banana, that’s not an apple either. And there’s a peach, that’s not an apple, either,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean that I’m equating the banana and the orange and the peach. And in the same way I’m not equating those things. My point was that once we start changing the definitions, then where do we stop?”
5. He actually said that bakers who don’t approve of same-sex marriage might poison a same-sex couples’ wedding cake.
"What I have a problem with is when people try to force people to act against their beliefs because they say, 'they're discriminating against me,'" Carson said. "So they can go right down the street and buy a cake, but no, let's bring a suit against this person because I want them to make my cake even though they don't believe in it. Which is really not all that smart because they might put poison in that cake.”
6. And he said that gay people are more protected than Christians in this country.
“I would like to see as much emphasis on the rights of Christians and people who are members of the faith community as there is to some of the other groups,” Carson said. “Who gets more protection? Christians? Or LGBT people under the law? I would like to see a much greater conservation about Christians and their rights.”
7. So he obviously believes that anti-gay "religious freedom" laws are "absolutely vital."
“It is absolutely vital that we do all we can to allow Americans to practice their religious ways while simultaneously ensuring that no one’s beliefs infringe upon those of others,” he said.
8. Carson thinks that people who support same-sex marriage are trying to get rid of the Bible.
“Think about the implications,” he said. “When people come along and try to change the definition of marriage, they are directly attacking the relationship between God and his people,” Carson said. “And that’s the reason it’s so important for them to change the definition, because if you can get rid of that, you can get rid of everything else in the Bible too."
9. He thinks that support for same-sex marriage will lead to a disaster like the fall of the Roman Empire.
“If we can redefine marriage as between two men or two women or any other way based on social pressures as opposed to between a man and a woman, we will continue to redefine it in any way that we wish, which is a slippery slope with a disastrous ending, as witnessed in the dramatic fall of the Roman Empire,” he said.
10. And finally, that same-sex marriage is a Marxist plot.
"If you look at a lot of the writings of the neo-Marxists when they talk about the New World Order, they say there's only one stick-in-the-mud, the United States. How do you get them out of the way or how do you change them? And they said there were two fundamental things: the Judeo-Christian faith and their strong families,” he said. "I liken the gay marriage crowd to a new group of mathematicians who say, 'Two plus two is five. And the new ones insist that it is five."
UPDATE – BONUS!:
Ben Carson: Gay Marriage Is A Neo-Marxist Plot To Impose The 'New World Order' (Video)
Related:
Marco Rubio's Top 10 Anti-Gay Statements
Rand Paul's Top 10 Anti-Gay Statements
Here Are Carly Fiorina's Most Anti-Gay Comments
Image by Gage Skidmore via Flickr and a CC license
