Congressman Timothy Walberg is against same-sex marriage. He made that pretty clear during his 2006 campaign. I suppose that's a perfectly valid position, and I would be willing to listen to his deeply flawed arguments, if that was all he were doing. But it's not.

In 2006, he attacked Joe Schwarz for supposedly having a secret pro-gay agenda because Schwarz did not support the Federal Marriage Amendment-- Schwarz, a thinking man, didn't think something like that was really worth amending the Constitution for. Then he turned against Sharon Renier with the same line of attack. It's not enough for him to be against gay marriage. He has to exploit people's prejudices and demonize an entire class of people-- the LGBT community.

I don't know what Tim Walberg really thinks of homosexuals, but I know what he wants us to think. He wants us to be afraid of them because they're different, because there's a stigma attached to that lifestyle, and because in conservative farm country like this, false stereotypes about gays and lesbians have become the "Hollywood liberal values" that supposedly stand in contrast to Tim Walberg's "traditional values."

He wants us to hate an entire class of people just for who they are, because he wants to win elections. That puts Tim Walberg on the same level as those who have sought to demonize African Americans, Jews, Catholics, Arabs, Latinos, and a host of other groups persecuted throughout history. Walberg, a Christian minister, must read a different Bible than I do, 'cause I don't remember Jesus saying anything about hating people that are different, or denying them basic rights.

More than anything else, this is what bothers me about Tim Walberg. He cloaks very un-Christian attitudes and beliefs behind his experience as Reverend Walberg. He claims a monopoly on values, when in fact, he wishes to deny an entire class of people one of the most important values we have as Americans: equal protection of the law.

So when Julielyn Gibbons (aka Liberal Lucy) asks us to stand up and voice our support for the LGBT community, I do so with pride. As a straight man and a Christian, I've had enough. Enough discrimination, enough prejudice, enough hatred.

Go read her post.

Labels: Gay Marriage, LGBT Community, Tim Walberg, Values