Roy Moore: Gay marriage ruling ‘even worse’ than 1857 pro-slavery decision

Republican Alabama Senate nominee Roy Moore once argued that the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize gay marriage was “even worse” than its ruling in the 19^th century Dred Scott case, which found that African-Americans were not citizens, and therefore property.

“Yes, sir. I was simply pointing out that in 1857 the United States Supreme Court did rule that black people were property. And of course that contradicted the Constitution and it took a civil war to overturn it,” the former Alabama Supreme Court chief justice told the “Here I Stand” podcast last November.

{mosads}“But this ruling in Obergefell is even worse, in a sense, because it forces not only people to recognize marriage other than the institution ordained of God and recognized by nearly every state in the union, it says that you now must do away with the definition of marriage and make it between two persons of the same gender or leading on, as one of the dissenting justices said, to polygamy, to multi … partner marriages.”

The podcast was produced by the Christian Emergency League, which describes itself as a group of pastors and theologians. It was uploaded by liberal super PAC American Bridge and first reported by Talking Points Memo.

Moore argued that the Obergefell v. Hodges case requires Christians to “give up their religious freedom.”

“We’ve got to go back and recognize that what they did in Obergefell was not only to take and create a right that does not exist under the Constitution but then to mandate that that right compels Christians to give up their religious freedom and liberty,” Moore continued in the podcast.

Moore has previously come under fire for other provocative comments, including 2005 footage unearthed by CNN in which he argues that homosexuality should be against the law. 

The controversial judge, who was removed from the bench in Alabama on two occasions, is facing off against Democratic nominee Doug Jones on Dec. 12 in Alabama for the Senate seat vacated by Attorney General Jeff Sessions.