Uphold Which?

Then Jamie Raskin, professor of law at American University, testified [on 1 March 2006, at hearings in the state legislature of Maryland] as to why the amendment [denying marriage equality to gays and lesbians in Maryland] should not be passed.

At the end of his testimony, one of Maryland's most insane ultra-far-rightwingers, republican Senator Nancy Jacobs, stood up and shouted: "Mr. Raskin, my Bible says marriage is only between a man and a woman. What do you have to say about that?"

To which Mr. Raskin replied: "Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible."

[reported by Gene Stone, "A Rare Moment of Sense", The Huffington Post, 15 March 2006.]

Happily, the amendment was defeated.

Posted on March 15, 2006 at 13.45 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Common-Place Book

One Response

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  1. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Wednesday, 15 March 2006 at 22.32
    Permalink

    That is priceless. I love it.

    Something the lawmaker might've added is that if "her Bible" prescribed that, she should by all means follow its teachings, keeping in mind that they were talking about her Bible and what she should do. Which, of course, is a matter of personal and not public policy.

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