Glenn Beck: ‘Persecution is coming’

Conservative talk show host Glenn Beck on Thursday argued that churches would see their congregations dwindle if same-sex marriage were legalized nationwide.

“If this goes through, persecution is coming,” Beck warned on his radio program, according to his website, The Blaze.

“Mark my words. … If gay marriage goes through the Supreme Court and gay marriage becomes fine and they can put teeth in it, so now they can go after the churches, 50 percent of our churches will fall away, meaning the congregations,” he argued.

{mosads}The Supreme Court on Tuesday heard oral arguments about whether or not states can ban same-sex marriage. Legal experts say the case could result in gay marriage being declared a constitutional right, though the court’s nine justices appeared split on whether to take that step.

If same-sex marriage becomes legal, Beck predicts churches would lose their tax-exempt status for opposing it, and that people would be fearful of attending religious services.

“The stigma of going to church will be too much,” he said of an America where same-sex marriages are protected by law.

“Within five years, 50 percent of the people you sit next to in church will not be there … because they’ll say, ‘I can’t do that,’ ” Beck said.

He said people attending church would fear losing their job or having people “picketing at my house.”

An AP-Gfk poll released on Wednesday showed people in the U.S. are divided on whether gay marriage should be legal.

Fifty percent of people in the poll said the Supreme Court should legalize it, while another 48 percent said it should not.