The Republican party is the midst of a jolly old gabfest ahead of its national convention in Ohio next week, and Bible talk has taken up a sizeable chunk of time in debates ranging from gay rights to building a wall on the Mexican border … and prairie chickens, which they agreed should not be a protected species.
According to this report, the 112 members of the party’s platform committee insisted that:
A good understanding of the Bible being indispensable to the development of an educated citizenry.
Students, they believe, should be able to take biblical literature as an elective in public schools. Most of yesterday afternoon was taken up discussing this issue.
Moving on to homosexuals and transgenders, Pink News reports that the party looks set to move even further to the right.
Among the provisions to receive initial approval was an amendment put forward by the Family Research Council. It seeks to have the Republicans endorse “conversion therapy’” for children who identify as LGBT.
The FRC’s official gobshite Tony Perkins, who drafted the amendment, said:
We support the right of parents to determine the proper treatment or therapy, for their minor children.
It passed both the subcommittee and committee and included a call for a parental consent requirement for minors to cross state lines for an abortion.
The committee has also called on the GOP to view internet pornography as:
A public health crisis.
The amendment that was adopted stated:
Pornography, with its harmful effects, especially on children, has become a public health crisis that is destroying the life of millions. We encourage states to continue to fight this public menace and pledge our commitment to children’s safety and wellbeing.
Language on same-sex marriage was also toughened by the committee, with the initial draft calling on a reversal of the Supreme Court’s decision and for control of marriage to be returned to the states.
Rachel Hoff, an openly gay member of the committee, tried to soften the sentiment through an amendment, but this was rejected on a margin of around three to one.
The committee has also supported North Carolina in it’s transgender bathrooms battle and called on all states to require people to use the restroom that matches their birth gender and not how they identify.
Hat tip: BarrieJohn (Pink News report)