Will Family Research Council president Tony Perkins run for US Congress next year? LaPolitics reports that Perkins, a former Louisiana state representative, is considering a run to succeed Rep. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), who is running for US Senate against Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA).
Just how extreme is Perkins? While leading the FRC, he has:
- Praised a Ugandan bill that made homosexuality a crime punishable by death or a long prison sentence as a “laudable” effort “to uphold moral conduct”
- Linked sexual assault, suicide and pedophilia to gay people, arguing there is “a correlation between homosexuality and pedophilia”
- Compared homosexuality to alcoholism and called gay rights advocates “pawns” of Satan
- Warned that anti-bullying efforts are “disgusting” efforts to encourage “perversion” and that same-sex unions are part of a government “population control” plot
- Predicted that President Obama’s re-election would lead to America’s destruction
- Insisted that the Supreme Court would trigger a revolution and break America apart by issuing rulings favorable to gay marriage
- Lamented the ties between Democrats and the “Jewish lobby”
- Attacked Islam as an “evil” religion
- Criticized the military for offering “yoga and meditation classes”
- Maligned proponents of the separation of church and state as “cultural terrorists”
But seeing that Perkins is already a leading Religious Right figure who most recently was involved in crafting the GOP’s government shutdown strategy, it’s safe to guess that Perkins will remain an influential figure whether he is elected to Congress or not.
