A report that Republicans may tweak their party platform to be more tolerant of same-sex marriage is a bad idea that would be "disastrous" for the GOP, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tells
Newsmax TV.
"If the party makes a substantial change on issues like life or marriage, it will be disastrous because whatever they think they gain, they're wrong," Huckabee said Tuesday on "The Steve Malzberg Show."
"What they will lose is an absolute — I think a flood tide of people will just give up on the GOP and say they're not different than the Democrats."
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This week,
Politico reported that Republican financiers are aiming to change the GOP's approach to gay marriage, and they're eying the platform at the upcoming GOP national convention.
The financiers are supporting lobbyists who want convention delegates to add language that accommodates gay marriage. The divisive issue pits more moderate members of the party and its hard-line conservative base.
"What is unfortunate is the Human Rights Council has been very, very effective in their lobbying to make it that if you're trying to protect a religious liberty of people so that they have the ability to follow their conscience as it relates to biblical marriage or attitude toward what that means, then they're haters, they're homophobic," Huckabee said.
It's nothing of the kind. It just means that they hold to a tradition that is the only tradition of 5,000 years of human history. The idea of same-sex marriage is really, really new and it's not something that has had widespread acceptance and official approval in any government entity until the last few years."
Some states are now passing laws that would uphold the rights of businesses from catering to same-sex weddings if they find it in conflict with their religious beliefs. Those laws are seen by some as a way of circumventing the Supreme Court's landmark decision on same-sex unions.
"It's happened very quickly in the United States. We really don't know what the social consequences are," Huckabee said.
"But to say that a person is going to be forced to accept that as a condition of opening up a business because here's the thing I've heard people say this is not gay friendly. Nobody that I know of has said I will not make a cupcake for you if you're a homosexual or I will not take a photo of you.
"What they would say is if you want me to participate in a ceremony that violates my conscience and my convictions, then all I ask is respect me, accommodate me and that's not what's happening. People are being criminalized because they refuse to accept that they just don't agree with."
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