U.S. Senator and GOP presidential candidate Ted Cruz claims gay-rights advocates are waging a "jihad" against religious freedom, but it's Cruz who may be on a political suicide mission against same-sex marriage.
Right Wing Watch reports on Cruz's latest remarks in Iowa on Thursday:
Cruz, speaking at a panel moderated by conservative talk show host Steve Deace, who regularly castigates the “Rainbow Jihad,” told the crowd of homeschooling activists that they should fear “the jihad that is being waged right now in Indiana and Arkansas, going after people of faith who respect the biblical teaching that marriage is the union of one man and one woman.”
By condemning this gay “jihad,” Cruz said, he could “bring people together” to defend religious freedom.
Before he opens his mouth again, Cruz may want to look up the origin of the Arabic word "jihad" — which actually referred to an effort to practice religion in the face of oppression and persecution.
Nowadays, of course, "jihad" has become synonymous with "holy war." But if there's anyone waging a holy war, it's Cruz himself.
Since announcing his candidacy last month at Liberty University, Cruz has embarked on an anti-gay rampage as he attempts to nail down evangelical Christian support in early voting states like Iowa and South Carolina.
Last week in Iowa, Cruz said a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in favor of marriage equality would be "fundamentally illegitimate," and vowed to respond by trying to strip justices of their jurisdiction over the issue. From The Dallas Morning News:
“Every one of us is concerned about the Supreme Court’s gay marriage decision likely coming in June,” he said. “The first thing and I think the most important thing every one of us can do, is pray. Lift up in prayer. …
“If the court tries to do this it will be rampant judicial activism. It will be lawlessness, it will be fundamentally illegitimate,” he said.
Earlier this week, Cruz joined five other Republican senators and 53 GOP representatives in filing a brief against same-sex marriage at the Supreme Court. But as The Houston Chronicle reports, while Cruz's strategy may play well in states like Iowa and South Carolina, it could ultimately doom his campaign:
Cruz has aimed squarely at religious conservatives in his quest to be president, but a raft of polls suggests that he and other evangelical candidates could be mining a shrinking older demographic that remains morally opposed to gay marriage. …
Although the Cruz strategy could pay dividends in Iowa, some say the Hawkeye State has a poor record of boosting eventual GOP nominees.
"Do you see a President Pat Buchanan?" said former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, an adviser to GOP hopeful Jeb Bush. "Do you see a President Rick Santorum? Do you see a President Pat Robertson?"
Watch video of Cruz's remarks about the gay "jihad" and the Supreme Court's marriage ruling, AFTER THE JUMP …
