Print 
PDF
It's stunning but true.
Senator Cory Booker repeatedly asked Mike Pompeo, President Trump's highly qualified nominee for Secretary of State, that question in the hearing last week.
He also demanded to know exactly what Pompeo, well known for his biblical Christian beliefs, believes about same-sex marriage.
Is this the new standard for anyone who now wants to hold public office in America?
It is with a growing number of far-Left activists in public office.
If Booker had asked the question once it would have been shocking, but asking it repeatedly is stunningly outrageous.
Booker seemed nearly out of control in pursuit of his litmus test for public office.
Booker referenced a speech Pompeo gave at a church three years ago when he quoted a pastor as saying, "America had worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We'd endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle."
Then Booker asked, on the record, "Is being gay a perversion?"
Pompeo, a former Congressman, presently serves as CIA Director and has been nominated by the president to become Secretary of State.
His answer to Booker was that when he was a politician, he did not think it was appropriate for same-sex couples to marry, and he stood by that....
Booker cut him off, demanding to know if he, a Conservative Christian, approved of "gay sex."
Booker asked, "You believe gay sex is a perversion, yes or no?" Then again he demanded, "Yes or no, do you believe that gay sex is a perversion?" And again, "Yes or no, do you believe gay sex is a perversion?"
Booker is a hypocrite.
Pompeo is a class act. And a committed Christian.
Booker's attempt to paint Pompeo as a bigot comes in the backdrop of his outspoken, undying support for President Obama---who, with Booker's full support, came into office claiming publicly he opposed same-sex "marriage."
And Obama was still saying he opposed it in 2010. Only later did he "evolve."
Why was that okay for Obama, and not for Pompeo? Granted the Secretary of State office is very important---but is it more so than the presidency?
Booker said that as Secretary of State Pompeo would be representing America at a time “hate acts” were increasing in the U.S.
The far Left Huffington Post published a story a while back that seemed to question Booker’s sexual orientation, citing an interview he gave to the Washington Post:
“Booker, who recently won the Democratic primary for a special upcoming Senate election, is 44 and unmarried and does not speak publicly about his personal life. But, the mayor tells the Washington Post that he doesn’t mind the gay rumors that have bubbled up from time to time during his political career."
“…People who think I’m gay, some part of me thinks it’s wonderful. Because I want to challenge people on their homophobia. I love seeing on Twitter when someone says I’m gay, and I say, ‘So what does it matter if I am? So be it. I hope you are not voting for me because you are making the presumption that I’m straight.’ ”
Regardless of Booker's chosen personal sexual behavior, he does not have the right to use his elected position to attempt to punish highly qualified people (or anyone else) who holds traditional biblical beliefs on human sexuality and marriage.
This, however, is not an isolated attempt. In fact, the Washington Times wrote an article last fall titled, "Religious Litmus Tests are Becoming all The Rage of the Left." They reminded their readers that, "The Founding Fathers were pretty clear when it comes to religious freedom. Article VI of the Constitution mandates that ' no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust."
Ironically, Article VI was to be sure non-religious folks were not discriminated against. Apparently, no good deed goes unpunished.
The Times notes that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), at that time, was imposing a litmus test on Trump appointee Amy Coney Barrett, a professor at Norte Dame Law School, because Feinstein said "the Catholic dogma lives loudly" within Barrett.
However, Feinstein had not done her homework---if so, she would have known that Barrett had actually written articles on the importance of judges holding both their convictions and the law without compromising either, saying, "The public is entitled to impartial justice."
Uninformed Feinstein actually quoted from one of the articles claiming it "proved that Barrett was compromised by her Catholic beliefs," when in fact the article was making the opposite case. Had she actually read what Barrett wrote she would have known, but the rage of the Left is not big on facts.
The Times article points to other similar instances where the same kind of inquisition was held.
Example: Bernie Sanders grilling Russ Vought, another conservative biblical Christian Trump appointee.
Bernie Sanders demanded to know if Vought believed Jesus is the only way to salvation---a belief that therefore condemns Muslims, Hindu, etc. to eternal Hell.
These people find the biblical views of people like us intolerable. I know---tolerance is supposed to be their battle cry and their virtue--- so Hillary chose to use "deplorables"---either means they want us to shut up and be quiet. And stay out of the way of progress.
The Signal, an arm of Heritage Foundation, published an article Friday titled, "Cory Booker's Inquisition Into Marriage Views is About Keeping you Silent."
The Signal article says, "Booker seemed surprised to learn that opposition to same-sex marriage is still very much a mainstream view in America. According to a 2017 Gallup Poll, about 1 in 3 Americans disagreed with same-sex marriage. That's about 100 million people."
The piece says "unfortunately, the US government has gone far beyond standing for basic human rights and has sought to advance a liberal LGBT agenda---calling it a "New Cultural Imperialism."
Justice Samuel Alito defined the matter in the 2015 case of Obergefell when it was before the Supreme Court.
In dissent, he said: "I assume that those who cling to old beliefs will be able to whisper their thoughts in the recesses of their homes, but if they repeat those views in public, they will risk being labeled as bigots and treated as such by governments, employers, and schools."
And now he could add senators.
The Left has co-opted these moral issues by a sustained incrementalism to redefine marriage and human sexuality over the past 25 years.
And they have done so in great part by lying to the public and shaming conservative Christians.
The Signal article says, "The Left's monopoly on this issue ends when conservatives, like Pompeo, begin refusing to hide their views and in fact speak up in the public square."
If the 100 million of us who hold these biblical Truths on marriage and the sanctity of life will stand up in our own public square, as Pompeo and others are doing---what and where ever our public square may be---and stand for righteousness, we will find, I believe, the winds of history blowing in a better direction---and the fires of restoration and renewal will be sparked.
Note: A group of Christian leaders has now written a letter to Congress demanding Pompeo be confirmed.
Be Informed. Be Bold. Be Faithful. Be Heard. Be Prayerful.