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Buttigieg and FRC
Ceci Freed / Media Matters | Gage Skidmore via Creative Commons

Family Research Council again claims Pete Buttigieg does not practice “biblical Christianity”

The evangelical right regularly pushes the false dichotomy that faith and queer identities are at odds

Special Programs LGBTQ

Written by Brianna January

Published 11/22/19 3:35 PM EST

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Family Research Council President Tony Perkins and FRC senior staffer David Closson claimed that openly gay Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg does not represent the “biblical” version of Christianity because of his sexuality. Both also suggested that Buttigieg is hypocritical for criticizing Christians who support President Donald Trump while being, in Perkins’ words, “a man who gets in bed with another man.” FRC is an extreme anti-LGBTQ group.

The evangelical right, including FRC and its allies, have repeatedly cited Buttigieg’s faith and sexuality to attack his candidacy and to criticize progressive Christians, particularly those who support LGBTQ equality and abortion rights. Anti-LGBTQ and right-wing media figures have claimed that progressive Christians are not “serious Christians,” even calling their beliefs a “hypocritical farce” and “politicized sham.” Perkins previously compared Buttigieg to “wolves in sheep’s clothing” and claimed that his progressive agenda is “not in line with the Scripture.” Other figures have accused him of practicing “fake Christianity” and said that he “keeps trying to play a Christian on television.”

On the November 21 edition of FRC’s Washington Watch podcast, Perkins reiterated his claim that Buttigieg -- who speaks openly about his faith -- goes against the Bible, saying, “It's amazing to me that he would so use Scripture when he is ... openly in a lifestyle that is contrary to the teaching of both the Old and the New Testaments.” Perkins’ guest, FRC Director of Christian Ethics and Biblical Worldview David Closson, doubled down on this sentiment, claiming Buttigieg “is actually twisting God's word to advance a political agenda that is antithetical to biblical Christianity.” Closson also said that Buttigieg speaking about his faith is “not just ironic” but also “sinister to twist God's word to advance a radical left-wing anti-biblical agenda.”

Family Research Council's Washington Watch on 11/21/19

November 21, 2019

Audio file

Citation From the November 21, 2019 edition of Washington Watch

DAVID CLOSSON (FRC DIRECTOR OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS AND BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW): But real quick, just the point of this is what’s really dangerous with what Pete is doing, he's not just mistaken about what the Bible says. He's actually twisting God's word to advance a political agenda that is antithetical to biblical Christianity.

…

TONY PERKINS (HOST): They're not the party of science when it's inconvenient, when it comes to biology and gender and life. But that's not where he stops. I mean, he goes even further. In fact, he attacks Christians as being hypocritical for supporting Trump in this interview with Rolling Stone. He says, quote, “I think it does run the risk of generationally harming the credibility of Christianity in our country because if people who are avowedly Christian can get themselves into bed with a president like this, it raises the question of what ethical context -- or content -- at all Christians -- Christianity even has.”

I mean, of course, I would come back and say, “Well, what about supporting a man who gets in bed with another man?” I think that's really the issue here when you talk about biblical Christianity. The Bible speaks very clearly about the issue of homosexuality, and to -- I just, it's amazing to me that he would so use Scripture when he is in a -- openly in a lifestyle that is contrary to the teaching of both the Old and the New Testaments.

CLOSSON: The irony of Mayor Pete Buttigieg lecturing Christians on the ethical content of Christianity when, like you just said, this is a man who is married to another man, again, when Scripture is just super clear. 

…

And yet he's, he dares to use Christian teaching to try to advance this radical left-wing agenda. It's not just ironic. I find this -- it's sinister to twist God's word to advance a radical left-wing anti-biblical agenda.

…

We need to look at the Bible. What does the Bible say about these issues? And that's why I really am nervous about Pete's candidacy in one sense. I'm not nervous, in a sense, but I'm afraid it’s going to send the wrong message to Christians because, again, he's claiming divine warrant for his positions that are actually not just even a slight misreading of Scripture, it's the exact opposite of what Scripture teaches.

Portraying Buttigieg’s faith and sexuality as being at odds reflects right-wing evangelicals’ broader efforts to create a false “God vs. Gay” dichotomy by suggesting that LGBTQ equality will result in the loss of rights for religious people, particularly Christians. However, polling by the Pew Research Center shows that the majority of members of most religious groups in the United States say that homosexuality should be accepted. In May 2018, the Public Religion Research Institute found that “most religious groups now support the legalization of same-sex marriage,” and although many white evangelicals and Mormons still do not express support, “there is evidence that even these groups are trending toward majority support.”

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