| Howard Dean
offers Gods opinon on homosexuals
Democratic front-runner Howard
Dean said that his decision as governor to sign the bill legalizing civil unions for gays
in Vermont was influenced by his Christian views, as he waded deeper into the growing
political, religious and cultural debate over homosexuality and the Bible's view of it.
"The overwhelming evidence is that there is very significant, substantial genetic
component to it," Dean said in an interview. "From a religious
point of view, if God had thought homosexuality is a sin, he would not have
created gay people."
Dean's comments come as gay marriage is emerging as a defining social issue of the 2004
elections, and one that is dividing the Episcopal Church in the United States and many
other Christians and non-Christians. Driving the debate is a theological dispute over the
Bible's view on homosexuality and a political one over the secular and spiritual wisdom of
allowing gays to marry.
Dean said he does not often turn to his faith when making policy decisions but cited the
civil union bill as a time he did. "My view of Christianity . . . is that the
hallmark of being a Christian is to reach out to people who have been left behind,"
he told reporters Tuesday. "So I think there was a religious aspect to my decision to
support civil unions."
Earlier, when he and the other candidates were asked at a debate whether religion has
influenced any of their policy decisions, Dean was the only one not to respond.
In the interview Dean said, "I don't go through an inventory like that when making
public policy decisions."
Dean expanded on his religious views in a series of conversations with reporters, but his
remarks were the first time he has talked about how faith has influenced his policymaking.
Dean said he does not consider homosexuality a sin but nonetheless opposes gay marriage.
The civil unions bill he signed as Vermont governor in 2000 granted homosexual couples the
same rights and protections as if they were married. Among the nine Democratic
presidential contenders, Rep. Dennis J. Kucinich (Ohio), former senator Carol Moseley
Braun (Ill.) and Al Sharpton support gay marriage.
Republicans are pushing a constitutional amendment against gay marriage, and President
Bush has said he would support it if necessary. Religious groups and social conservatives
in Congress are planning to push the issue aggressively before the November election, in
part, to motivate Christian voters and paint Democrats as out of touch with most
Americans. Polls show that a majority of Americans oppose gay marriage.
Dean, who leads in many polls, is increasingly trying to broaden his appeal by talking
about faith and centrist policies such as a balanced budget and tax reform for the middle
class. He said he planned to discuss his faith more openly in the South, but he said he
would take this message everywhere. "I think we have got to stop thinking about the
South as some peculiar region," he said. "I am going to talk about the same
things everywhere."
Some Democrats have said Dean, with roots in liberal Vermont and close identification with
the nation's first civil unions law, might appear too secular to win over an increasingly
religious electorate.
Dean, who is a member of the Congregationalist Church, which preaches a liberal brand of
Christianity, falls on the side of Episcopal leaders in the United States who recently
stirred international controversy by ordaining a gay bishop, and the millions of Americans
who do not consider homosexuality a sin. This theological debate predates the questions of
civil unions and gay marriage and has divided biblical scholars for a long time.
In broad terms, it pits Christians who look at the Bible less literally and argue that the
Gospels never quote Jesus talking specifically about homosexuality against more
conservative Christians who take a more literal approach and point to scripture in the New
and Old Testaments that they believe forbids homosexuality. For instance, Leviticus 18:22,
according to the King James version of the Bible, says, "Thou shalt not lie with
mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination."
Polls show voters want a religious president and one who talks about faith. Some
Republicans, including a few in the Bush administration, worry that the GOP could overplay
its hand by appearing to divide people with hostility toward gays. But if Dean wins the
Democratic presidential nomination, strategists from both parties predict it will become a
major issue in the campaign.
At several campaign stops, Dean said that if Republicans push gay issues, he will talk
"issues that unite us," such as health insurance for every American.
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