Josh Duggar, the eldest of Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar's "19 Kids & Counting," has an interesting conception of "discrimination."
During an interview with CNS News at Saturday's March for Marriage, the reality star -- who also serves as the executive director of the anti-LGBT Family Research Council's advocacy wing -- explained that the fight for marriage equality is actually part of an effort to "silence" Christians. Duggar indicated that abolishing restrictions on same-sex marriage would actually discriminate against "Orthodox Christians" such as himself, because they would no longer be allowed to discriminate against same-sex couples.
"Right now in America, there is an agenda to silence people of faith, those who hold a dissenting opinion," Duggar said. "That’s not what America was founded on. America was founded on respect, tolerance and really not discriminating against people based on their religious convictions."
Duggar also described marriage equality as a challenge to the family, which could also pose a threat to religious conviction. "Orthodox Christianity, in general, and all faiths, really ascribe to the fact that family is central to everything," he said. "When you look at our economy right now, and you look at all the other issues -- national security, immigration, all these issues we face in our country -- it all goes back to, if you have strong families, you have a strong economy. You have a strong nation."
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court heard arguments in a collection of cases that could determine the fate of same-sex marriage bans across the country -- but Duggar doesn't think the issue is going away anytime soon. He gave an example to make his case.
"Roe vs. Wade, when that was handed down it only began the debate that still continues today and obviously we know where that issue stands now," Duggar said, referring to the abortion debate. "All of Americans understand that the issue [marriage equality] is not going away, so I think what we have to realize is this is only the beginning of a larger discussion, and what's really at stake here is the American family."
Watch Duggar's interview with CNS News below:
(h/t Raw Story)
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