Ben Carson: Jesus Christ Died for Gays, Lesbians Just Like He Died for Everyone Else
WASHINGTON — Former Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson reminded a gathering of prominent Christian conservatives Saturday night that Jesus Christ also died for the sins of gays and lesbians and stressed that more Christians need to "stand up for the word of God."
On a night when Concerned Women for America founder Beverly LaHaye was honored with the 2016 Faith & Freedom Coalition's Lifetime Achievement Award, the retired neurosurgeon was asked to deliver a keynote address at the "Road To Majority" conference gala dinner, which was attended by a number of prominent social conservatives from across the country including former GOP presidential candidate Michele Bachmann, CWA President Penny Nance and author and religious freedom activist Johnnie Moore.
After the 87-year-old LaHaye explained in her acceptance speech that she started Concerned Women for America in 1979 so that the voice of Christian women would be inserted into the national abortion debate, Carson called on Christians to continue to let their voices be heard on gay marriage despite the fact that the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage last year.
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Carson said that Christians must not only insert their Christian beliefs into the public square but they also must defend the Constitution from being manipulated by the LGBT community, which he argued has not fought for "equal rights" but "extra rights."
"Another reason that we must be informed and understand our Constitution is so that people don't manipulate it. For instance, look at the LGBT community," Carson said. "Now, I don't have anything against gays and lesbians. You know, Christ died for them just like he died for everybody else. Our Constitution protects them just like it protects everybody else… Everybody gets equal rights but nobody gets extra rights. Nobody gets to change everything."
Although Carson called on Christians to stand up for their convictions, he warns that Christians must not sink to the level of name-calling and stressed that Christians must simply "stand up for the word of God."
"I personally believe that many people in the LGB community don't feel comfortable with what they are doing and that is why it is so important for them to get affirmation from everybody else and that is why they try to enforce everybody else to accept them and to say that this is what needs to be done," Carson explained. "But there comes a time when people of faith have to be able to stand up for the word of God."
"The word of God says very specifically what is to be done in those cases and how it is regarded," the doctor continued. "I believe this is the camel's nose under the edge of the tent because if you can negate the word of God in this one area, you can negate the word of God in every area. That is why we must be courageous enough to take a logical stance, not against anybody, but for the word of God."
Additionally, Carson stressed that the intolerance toward Christianity being displayed in America may be an indicator that America has lost trust in God.
"Every coin in our pocket and every bill in our wallet says 'In God We Trust.' Yet, do we trust Him? Or do we just invoke his name in times of crisis?" Carson asked. "Have we reached a point on college campuses where we don't dare mention Jesus Christ? We can mention any other religious figure but that one has hatred and an intolerance, they say. How can that be in a country like this?"
"The president says that we are not a Christian nation," Carson continued. "He doesn't get to decide. We get to decide what kind of nation this is. It means that we get to define our values and our principles."
