Trump-backing evangelical leader ramps up criticisms of ex-president's RNC platform
Evangelical political leader Tony Perkins, who has already raised gripes about the Republican National Committee's alterations to the abortion plank of their platform, took another swipe at them on Thursday.
Perkins heads up the Family Research Council, a far-right Christian nationalist organization that has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center for its demonization of LGBTQ people, but nonetheless holds influence in many GOP circles.
The platform, which was written largely along former President Donald Trump's own ideological lines, moves from discussion of abortion as morally wrong, to saying that it is the responsibility of each state to decide their policy on the matter — and despite the fact that this is still an endorsement of Trump's role in the elimination of Roe v. Wade protections, it comes as evangelical GOP activists are paranoid they are being forced into the back seat.
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"How do you get to a point where you can abuse a child for your own purposes?" asked Perkins. "Well, it's when you lose the fact that they are created in the image of God and therefore they have value. And that's why — it hasn't been perfect by any means, but the Republican Party staking out that ground for the last forty years, recognizing that a child is created in the image of God, and therefore worthy to be protected and welcomed into our world and protected under our laws, while aspirational, has been significant. Now the party's departing from that."
"I, for one — I refuse to go with the winds of culture," Perkins continued. "I believe, as Bible-believing Christians, we must stand for truth, whether the current popular political party or candidate stands with that or not, I don't care. I'm going to stand on truth."
Ironically, despite his rhetoric about the importance of protecting children, Perkins has taken a very different tone when it comes to LGBTQ children, claiming that their sexual orientation is "indoctrination" and he would not allow it to happen to his kids because he teaches them "the right ways."