Retired pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson has freely shared his theological views since his bold 2013 National Prayer Breakfast speech catapulted him onto the national stage — and in a recent interview he affirmed his support for the biblical definition of marriage, encouraging Christians to stand up against "intolerance."
When asked how Christians can "show God's love to the gay community without compromising God's word," Carson, an outspoken Christian, told Charisma News that he believes consenting adults should be able to do whatever they want, but that the definition of marriage shouldn't change.
Former ediatric neurosurgeon and best-selling author Dr. Ben Carson (AP Photo/The Herald-Palladium, Jody Warner)
"If they want to have [a] legal relationship so that they can have visitation rights and property transfer, I don't have a problem with that," he said. "What I do have a problem with is changing the definition of marriage. This is established by human history of thousands of years."
Carson went on to note that, in the Bible, God compares marriage to the relationship that the Almighty has with the church, arguing that the definition of matrimony is extremely important and shouldn't be amended so lightly.
"They can call whatever they're doing whatever they want to call it, but they don't know if you change it for all of society. If you change it for one group, you have to change it for all groups," he continued. "I've explained that to people. We have to be willing to stand up and say that, not just capitulate."
Carson compared calls for an amended definition of marriage to a hypothetical scenario in which a "new set of mathematicians ... come along and say that two plus two is five." Instead of accepting that the answer is four, the people in his analogy begin labeling everyone who disagrees with their new conclusion -- that the answer to the equation is actually five -- as "mathophones" or "mathists."
Dr. Benjamin Carson speaks during the National Prayer Breakfast at the Washington Hilton February 7, 2013 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images)
"Basically, that's what happened in our society. People have to stand up to them," Carson said. "They are being totally intolerant."
He concluded, "You can do anything you want, but nobody gets to completely change things for everybody else."
Some observers have wondered whether Carson will seek political office in the future, leading to increased interest in his sociopolitical worldview.
As TheBlaze reported last month, Carson recently told the Weekly Standard that he’s “starting to feel” a tug to possibly run for national office, highlighting the intense response he gets when he travels around the nation speaking about contemporary issues.
(H/T: Charisma News)
