On the one hand, you have to give the National Organization for Marriage for staying on message. They hold that allowing gays and lesbians to marry will be bad,and everything they say and do is said and done towards that end. Too bad that there are no real reasons to be opposed to marriage equality leaving them no recourse except to make stuff up. How successful will they be? Hard to tell, but generally speaking, effective fear mongering is at least linked to some sense of truth so that there is a logical basis for the fear.

Allowing gay couples to marry amounts to “genocide” and will lead to the “extinction” of the human race, said the niece of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. at a National Organization for Marriage rally in Atlanta on Saturday.

So, yes, NOM’s biggest supporters will believe this and use it to feel justified, but they felt that way already. Even without this outrageous claim. They won’t stop and examine the validity of the statement, because the validity of it isn’t important to them. Achieving their goal of stopping gay marriage is all they care about. The truth be damned.

There is only one valid reason for a person to oppose gay marriage. A person can believe that same-sex marriage is wrong based upon their religious views. Their religion can be against it. And there are two valid results based on this valid reason. A church should have the right to refuse to recognize a gay marriage. Just like a church can refuse to recognize divorce. Additionally, a person can choose to not marry am person of the same sex. This would be the person acting in accordance to their personal beliefs.

But marriage isn’t a religious event. It is a legal agreement between two persons regulated by the state, not by the church. And there is no legal basis for forcing one’s personal religious views upon another. So, the best they can do is attempt to create fear based on a “scientific” claim. That claim is about as valid as “the sky is falling,” and just as humorous.

The linked post describes the a more serious issue- that of the incongruence between the stance of Coretta Scott King and this speaker. A point well worth making, and articulated.

She did not mention that Coretta Scott King, Martin Luther King Jr.’s wife, has spoken out in favor of gay marriage on numerous occasions and was a speaker at Atlanta’s Gay Pride festival in 1996.

But I have a different point to raise. If Dr Alveda King, or NOM believe this to be true, then they are even more insane than I used to think. They are more fringe than Sharon Angle or Orly Taitz.

It is statistically proven that the strongest institution that guarantees procreation and continuity of the generations is marriage between one man and one woman. I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to be extinct and none of us wants to be. We don’t want genocide, we don’t want to destroy the sacred institution of marriage.”

I’m betting however they don’t believe this to be true. Even if gays and lesbians are allowed to marry in all 50 states, straight people will continue to marry and have babies. And same-sex couples, and even single people will have babies, and there isn’t any chance in any way shape of form, that the human race will go extinct. We may destroy our planet by depleting the Ozone layer; by depleting all of the world’s drinking water; or by atomic war. but even with gay marriage, people will have babies and the human race will continue.

What is is called when a person makes a baseless and unsupportable claim as if it were a fact? It is called bearing false witness, or lying. and Lying is a sin. Bearing false witness is a sin. So, given the only supportable reason to oppose same-sex marriage is a person’s personal religious beliefs, it seems striking that a religious person so concerned about morality is so easily willing to lie to get what they want.

It is so ironic, that Dr Alveda King, earned only a MA in business administration, and has an honorary doctorate from St. Anselm College. She is best known as a pro-life activist, and she is a Washington insider/ conservative political operative.

The issue of what effect same-sex marriage would have on procreation is an interesting one. The birth rates across the planet are fairly well known and documented, and range from 7.46 births per 1000 persons to 49.6 births per 1000 persons. Assuming all of the Science that suggests that the number of people who are gay or lesbian is between 1% and 5% , even if all of these gay couples failed to procreate, the birthrate is high enough that even a 5% decrease would not lead to a significant shrinking of the population of the planet, let alone extinction. And given that we know that many gay or lesbian couples have children, the decrease in procreation would be insignificantly small if it existed at all.

NOM’s goal was to raise attention and publicity. They say and do things that allow their base to feel justified, and things that will cause media attention. Even if it includes lying.

via Niece of Martin Luther King calls gay marriage ‘genocide’ at NOM rally – LGBTQ Nation.