Via Bill and Kent’s Place On The Web, something from Annapolis that I completely missed hearing about…

Last week in Annapolis at a hearing on the proposed Constitutional Amendment to prohibit gay marriage, Jamie Raskin, professor of law at American University, was requested to testify.

He did so. At the end of his testimony, a right-wing senator said: “Mr. Raskin, my Bible says marriage is only between a man & a woman. What do you have to say about that?”

Raskin: “Senator, when you took your oath of office, you placed your hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution. You did not place your hand on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible.”

The room erupted into applause.

According to 365Gay.Com, the right wing state senator was Nancy Jacobs, republican (surprise, surprise) from Cecil and Harford Counties. So Dwyer isn’t the only nutcase in Annapolis.

Meanwhile, via Pam’s House Blend, you can read about two candidates for office, one in Ohio, and one in Texas, who are advocating the death penalty for homosexuals:

Merrill Keiser, Jr., is a trucker by trade, and he’s hoping his next journey takes him all the way to Washington. His goal is a seat in the US Senate, but first he has to make it through the primary that will determine which Ohio Democrat will be the November ballot.

The Fremont man is causing some controversy with one of his beliefs. He tells News 11 homosexuality should be a felony, punishable by death. “Just like we have laws against murder, we have laws against stealing, we have laws against taking drugs — we should have laws against immoral conduct,” Keiser says.

Then there is Larry Kilgore, running for Governor of Texas. According to Larry’s website, his platform consists of, among other things…

1-40 lashes for crime of maliciousness, like graffiti, porn, strip clubs.

Execution for crime of adultery. (Leviticus 20:10)

Execution for crime of homosexual acts. (Leviticus 20:13)

We have met the Taliban, and they are us. A decade ago I might have said these nutcases stand absolutely no chance of being elected. Now I’d have to say that they both have excellent chances of being elected. And that’s not because a majority, or even a significant number of Americans want to live in an old testament theocracy. It’s because there is no vigorous political defense of individual liberty in America anymore, and in particular, in defense of religious liberty. Religious liberty in America has come to mean that the most extreme fundamentalists can agitate for stoning to death people for old testiment sex crimes, and burning heretics at the stake, and anyone who speaks out against them is anti-Christian.

Believers in the American Dream, defenders of liberty and justice for all, had better start getting as angry, and as loud, and as in your face as the theocrats, or we’re headed for Shira law here in America.