I believe Jesus would approve gay marriage, but that’s just my own personal belief. I think Jesus would encourage any love affair if it was honest and sincere and was not damaging to anyone else, and I don’t see that gay marriage damages anyone else.”
— Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter in an interview with HuffPo
Christopher Hayward
Maybe but maybe not.
1EqualityUSA
If it had been important to Jesus, I think He would have mentioned it at least once. Not a word in 33 years in our realm. Being judgmental was spoken of, usurping, but nary a word about gays. Divorce, yes, that was spoken of, but gays? Not a word. Rabbinical Saul (Paul) may not have understood that we were born this way, however, Christ said nothing on the subject of those who were born this way. Flesh is the lesser between flesh and Spirit, but this is true for everyone, gay or straight.
Cheryl Gumbs
I believe…jesus wouldn’t care, he worries about what we need to worry about
Jared MacBride
Who cares what Jimmy’s imaginary sky friend thinks? Has no relevance to my legal rights.
1EqualityUSA
Jared MacBride, Because he is a friend to us and very respected and his words may resonate with one who hates us just because they don’t know any other way.
dvlaries
My now-husband and I were coming home from my first visit to his parents’ in South Dakota in the summer of ’76. We were 22 and 26, and we drove that trip. Heading home to New Jersey, we prided ourselves making very good time, and resolved to make the east border of Ohio before stopping for the night.
*
Little did we know that Jimmy picked that weekend to campaign Pennsylvania. 😮 It’s okay, Mr. President, we found lodging, and we were young and spry then. Bless you, sir.
Chris Mommaerts
AMEN
Ram Michael
Of course he does, he’s awesome. And He was awesome!
onthemark
Well… Jesus MIGHT approve of same-sex marriage. He never mentioned it, that’s true.
But he’d condemn you if you marry a divorced person (see Matthew 5) and he’d condemn you if you get divorced (see Mark 10). This is starting to get a little silly. Will we start seeing gay guys keeping their virginity until their honeymoons?
Dean Long
Nice but does anyone really care what he thinks anymore
Giancarlo85
I’ll take that. Remember this guy is a Southern Baptist and of a different generation. It’s a bit sad how his Presidency ended up really… then it turned into the shitstorm known as the 1980s that gave us many of the problems we have today. And one of the shittest Presidents in modern history of any nation. Ronald Reagan. Too bad that criminal never faced justice for all his crimes.
Atldeuce
I find it fascinating that these bible thumping quoters never address all the things Jesus did condemn. Somehow we wreck marriage but their 3 or 4 marriages and multiple out of wedlock “Palin babies” are better than our committed love for each other? ?
If some of their preachers weren’t so concerned about sleeping with hookers, fleecing their flock for $65,000,000 jets and posting their pics on Grindr, they might have more time for reflection.
Alistair Wiseman
Jimmy Carter also must believe in four years of crippling high unemployment, stagflation of 13.5%, unimaginable 21.5% interest rates, record gas prices, shortages and gas lines and a doubling of the deficit.
Jimmy already proved he does not have much spiritual discernment with his defense of Islam, Hamas and the Palestinians and his continued condemnation of Israel.
Hey Jimmy, thank you for “The Coveted Jesus Endorsement.”
Giancarlo85
@Alistair Wiseman: Alistair bullshit artist. Do you realize that Reagan really solved nothing and created many of the same problems we are faced with today? Carter inherited a mess from Nixon and ford. You seem to be stuck in republicant fantasies.
Giancarlo85
http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/5117fe5deab8ea355300000e/that-time-ronald-reagan-hosted-those-freedom-fighters-at-the-oval-office.jpg – This is your hero, alistair bullshit artist!
Bob LaBlah
@Alistair Wiseman: And don’t forget giving away the Panama Canal even though OUR money built it. Appearing so wimpish on the world stage the former Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on Christmas Day, send a clear fuck you message to the west. And last but not least, ol’ rag head himself, Ayatollah Khomeini, held hostages for over a year while daring the west, every day, to do something.
Adios, Mr. Carter. You are the reason I chose Reagan over you in the first presidential election I voted in. I have no doubt within two years after your reelection I would have been learning Russian, whether I wanted to or not.
BlueDude
Still, I think it’s commendable that a (very) old Southern Baptist is on our side, and not throwing stones. Apparently, Rabbi Joshua-ben-Joseph didn’t have much, or any, thoughts about us qu33rs, since nary a word on the subject appears in any of the Four Gospels. Right-wing religio-tards, PLEASE take note!
lauraspencer
@Giancarlo85:
Every President inherits from the leaders proceeding him….good and bad. Many Presidents’ legacies can’t be seen until they are out of office.
1EqualityUSA
Thankfully, Obama’s legacies are happening here and now, while the man is still in office.
1EqualityUSA
Imagine how much more could have been done if the Republicans weren’t trying to undermine his every effort. The GOP has nothing to be proud of. (Jerks) UnAmerican, self-serving creeps.
Bob LaBlah
@1EqualityUSA: If you really stop to think about it there is more to be grateful for their being the way they are than their being different. Think about it for a second: Michele Bachmann’s blind hatred ended up getting her as thrown out of office more or less due to her failed bid for the presidency and constant cries against Obamacare. Ted Cruz embarrasses himself by having to sign up for Obamacare after holding a filibuster against it where he actually read Green Eggs and Ham to the senate because he ran out of shit to talk about. And lets not forget Rush Limbaugh’s exasperated rant tell the republicans publicly to move on with the gay marriage bull shit, it was a lost battle and he told them so.
The republicans and the Tea Party are more or less the glue that holds us together for now.
Had the republicans been cooperative they would have no doubt cause many democrats who held reservations about a lot of things to side with them or walk midway in the aisle: do nothing but talk, take no action.
1EqualityUSA
Having the GOP described as a sticky, pasty substance is appropriate.
Alistair Wiseman
@1EqualityUSA: @Bob LaBlah:
What are you talking about? Is history already being rewritten? Did you fail to remember that President Obama had complete control of the House and Senate the first two years of his presidency? He had complete majorities in both houses and could have done as he pleased.
1EqualityUSA
All in good time, Alistair Wiseman. You have to give it to the man, he knows timing and uses it to his advantage. I don’t think President Obama fathomed that the Republicans would be as harmful to the Country and to the system as they were. Conciliatory doesn’t work with this dark party. Raci$ts, entitled, white men were not going to let Obama succeed. They did their best to hurt Obama and he just worked around these asses. He made a fool out of the GOP. I love it.
Giancarlo85
@Bob LaBlah: You know that Reagan gave arms and money to terrorist groups and supported criminals like Joseph Savimbi, the Salvadorean government, and other nefarious dictatorships?
” You are the reason I chose Reagan over you in the first presidential election I voted in.”
Talk about lack of foresight. Reagan was a fucking disaster throughout his administration. The Presidency of the most criminal indictments and convictions ever. It was too bad the man couldn’t even remember his own name because he should have faced prosecution too. Reagan was a disaster. Russia was already imploding by the mid-1970s because of economic mismanagement. You watch too many movies. Get back to reality.
Republicans are anti-American and anti-job. They are pro-bullshit and pro-hypocrite, much like you Bob.
@Alistair Wiseman: You, like most right wing nutcases, do a lot of historical revisionism. You don’t have a clue what is going on. Obama did pass a lot during those first two years, including the Frank-Dodd rules on financial reform. Those rules were promptly gutted by the republican assholes you voted in.
Congratulations, Alistair. You successfully fucked yourself by supporting people who don’t care about you.
Giancarlo85
Obama and the democrats instated a lot of various sweeping financial reforms for wall street. Wall Street and the big money makers got upset and started funneling money into the republican party even more. Those idiots then took the House and promptly gutted many of those financial reforms.
You naive idiots who vote republican don’t even realize the kind of damage you’re causing to this country.
1EqualityUSA
It’s easier to control a population when they are made to feel vulnerable financially. Republicans are really a dark entity.
Christopher Meiners
That’s nice but I don’t need a religion to validate my existence or my future marriage.
Realitycheck
As a democrat and looking at this in retrospect, so of course it is easy to make
negative remarks.
Carter, is the one that went to Clinton and convinced then President Bill Clinton to develop China, we all know the end results, a huge transfer of wealth and hundreds of millions of jobs from all over the world to China, and China has now become the biggest world polluter, in fact right now China pollutes more then the rest of the world combined, and China military is growing at a fast pace treating world stability.
We have already seen a rush to militarization in the region including the return of a military to Japan and Atomics are on the way to Japan, the last place on earth were atomics should be.
If any of you has truly close Chinese friends, you have been told this, China means center of the world, and for Chinese all asian are Chinese, and Chinese truly believe they will eventually invade and control all of Asia.
We are also all familiar on how embolden Russia has become under Putin, no small thanks to China and its aggressive posture in the China and Philippine Sea.
So, thank you Jimmy Carter for helping creating the base for a possible World War III
Hopefully diplomacy and economic trade will keep China at bay as it population starts understanding the concept of democracy.
In case you are wondering, Carter convincing line to Clinton was “China is to big to be ignored”.
Well Mr Carter, now China truly is “too” big of a power to be ignored.
1EqualityUSA
China has its own house of cards with their Ghost Cities, Type in “Ghost Cities, China.” The Real Estate Bubble will burst big time. The young have sunk three generations of savings into a losing scheme. You-tube and I believe 60 Minutes covered “Ghost Cities in China.” Whole cities are being funded by the government, in order to keep the population working, yet nobody can afford to live in these elaborate cities with Malls and huge apartment complexes. It’s eery and deserted.
Giancarlo85
@Realitycheck: Um, that actually started since Nixon and China really took off in the 1980s. China doesn’t need to be an adversary though. And they know their economy’s well being is dependent on the west doing well too. So I doubt they’ll do anything stupid.
Merv
@Bob LaBlah: We should have welcomed the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. It diverted resources from the Soviet Union while possibly helping secularize Afghanistan, which needs it badly.
Regarding the Iran hostages, Carter did do something. He authorized a military rescue mission, which unfortunately failed because of aircraft collisions and equipment problems.
Giancarlo85
@Merv: The Soviet backed Afghan government was miles better than what they ended up with. The real reason the US didn’t want the Soviets in there is because they could eventually try to access through Pakistan… Which would lead to a clear water port in India. Still the whole region would have been better off with the Soviet backed regime… And not those freedom fighters Reagan invited into the oval office.
yaletownman
@Dean Long: probably millions care which i dare say is millions more than care what you think!
Realitycheck
@Giancarlo85: True, ideally we should be friends, there is how ever a different culture and way of thinking compared to
most nations, as you say the most important card is the economy, last
thing a manufacturer wants to do is upset its clients.
The key to the future is how ever bit complex, if China economy collapse
social unrest might bring about yet another violent change in Chinese
dictatorship, there is also the huge problem of China dealing with its neighbors,
from territorial waters to their hate of Japan, so finger crossed, but again,
ideally you are right, China should be a straight sailing ship and hopefully grow
along the way.
Realitycheck
@1EqualityUSA: I am aware of that, and it is actually worse, China is not a transparent economy, but economists can easily track what comes out from China ports and report the real size of
exports and growth or lack of, and things are getting worse by the day, more importantly the Chinese government has been borrowing tons of money, China has now a national debt
almost 3 times the size of their entire yearly economic output, that is a pretty big debt, especially since revenues are going down, and that is only part of the problem since Chinese localities also have their own debts.
Unless China can keep a steady growth, the economy will collapse, there is really no way around it, the real estate bubble you mentioned is a great part of the problem, and Chinese citizens borrowing money to invest in the Shangai stock market is another big part, as you probably know Chinese stock markets have lost trillions of $$, that means Chinese banks will not see back all that money they have given to lenders.
The question is; if China collapse, what impact will that have on the rest of the world? China has been completely developed and built with foreign investments, are we talking about another serious world wide recession?
Giancarlo85
@Realitycheck: China is a friend of the west. They rely on their export power. That is why they won’t do anything stupid. They were even upset with their traditional allies North Korea for all their belligerence.
jwtraveler
Jesus is every Christian’s puppet. He says whatever you want him to say.
1EqualityUSA
jwtraveler, And this is why it is so important to keep separation of Church and state, no matter the religion. We should not be burdened by another’s beliefs.
Bryguyf69
@Jared MacBride: @Dean Long: Not sure where bitchiness comes from but it ignores reality. Clearly people care what he thinks because he has authored 29 nonfiction books, with all the recent ones being NY Times bestsellers. Most pundits think his current memoir, A Full Life: Reflections at Ninety. will also be a bestseller. CNN’s Jake Tapper gave it a glowing review and I intend to read it. Despite being 90, Carter’s analysis of current events is more insightful than many current politicians half his age. If no one cared, as you claim, do you think he would have publishing contracts and bestsellers? We’re talking about major publishers like Simon & Schuster.
And you’re clearly ignorant of international diplomacy. Along with Bill Clinton, Carter is still welcomed as an unofficial diplomat and international humanitarian. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate made waves a few years ago when he suggested that the US has been biased against the Palestinians in favor of Israel. If you don’t think people care what he thinks, you’re obviously ignorant of Israel’s scathing response.
If you want to learn more, instead of being bitchy, go watch PBS’ “Jimmy Carter’s Post-Presidency” or read Presidential historian, Douglas Brinkley’s article in Diplomatic History.
Bryguyf69
@Jared MacBride: That’s naive. While you and I may not care, a majority of Americans do care what Jesus might have thought. Indeed, much of the current acceptance of gays can be seen as a more progressive interpretation of their personal Christianity. In other words, rather than abandoning their religion, many Christians now believe that their religion accepts gays.
While I think religion is silly, it doesn’t stop me from using it as a tool. I can’t tell you how helpful it’s been in dealing with dying, despondent and suicidal patients. Likewise, gays should foster religious allies.
Bryguyf69
@Giancarlo85: While Carter is a SOuthern Baptist, much to his credit, he severed ties with the homophobic Southern Baptist Convention for not living up to his Christian ideals. In 2006, he and Bill Clinton formed an alternate group, The New Baptist Covenant. Its goal is inclusion and diversity, especially among races. I don’t know their stance on homosexuality, however.
1EqualityUSA
Bryguyf69,
I posted this comment in 2012 in regard to children who were being taught anti-gay lyrics to be sung in church.
“I was agnostic and went into reading the Bible, so that I could see for myself what exactly it was saying about gays. It changed me, though I have yet to join a church in the twenty seven years I’ve been studying. Churches are disappointing. The words are so complex and beautiful that it would take me 800 years to fully grasp its complexity. I view it as a three-dimensional structure, like a basket missing much of its weave. Parts have been altered, whole books omitted, worldly tinkering through the ages has changed it, but the structure is still there. The skeleton is still recognizable. History repeats itself and humans never change. The very things that vexed people in ancient times vex us today. Observing life can provide the meat for the skeletal remains of ancient words that have succumbed to human tampering. Some of the most profound verses have transformed my heart and mind. The greatest gift given to me from Scripture is a vantage point outside of myself, a bird’s eye view of the world. When Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players” a line such as this cannot be written without seeing the world from a distant vantage point. When Isaiah described the earth as an orb in the palm of God’s hand, this train of thought cannot come into being, without seeing from a vantage point apart from the flesh, especially when it was believed that the earth was flat. So, for all of the chaff that I sift through, the nuggets of wisdom far outweigh the mythology and it is these nuggets that have saved me time and much vain effort. It’s like having a really wise friend pass on bits of advice that prevents stumbling. Faith is a whole different animal, something which requires humbleness and it needs to be sought after. It brings the words alive, operational. It offers refuge, not persecution. I’m blown away by the beauty of the Bible. I looked into it to disprove the churches stance and it helped me understand that the church has destroyed Christ’s message. Mere men cannot take away from me what has been given to me by Christ, no matter how powerful, no matter how much they engender disharmony towards the LGBT community.”
Politics + religion = oppression
Religion + Politics = futility (without faith)
No matter how eloquent, arguments derived from a person’s religious beliefs shall not coerce civil laws. We shall not be burdened by another’s beliefs, be it Sharia Law, Halakha, Hindu, Christianity’s Canon, or Mormonism’s cult practice. Separation of Church and State is imperative. Blurring the line will eventually turn on the churches and harm them in the end. An unwise Church leader panders to politicians, a fruitless endeavor, faithless, futility.
Alistair Wiseman
@1EqualityUSA:
“We should not be burdened by another’s beliefs”
Really? Unless it has to do with marriage equality, then burden away!
1EqualityUSA
Equality is an inalienable right. We pay taxes, we go to war, and we are Americans. Soon your views will be rendered obsolete, like the Confederate flag. Sure there will be a few hold-outs, as always, but the Country will move on and leave people such as you behind in your own stew.