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This from today's online Greeley Tribune www.greeleytribune.com :
Sen. Scott Renfroe is apologizing for comments he made at the state Capitol Monday when he said said homosexuality was a sin akin to murder.
Renfroe, R-Greeley, made his comments during debate on a bill that would extend health insurance benefits to same-sex partners of state workers. The full Democrat-controlled Senate passed the bill after Renfroe’s comments were made.
Renfroe said Monday during debate on the bill that homosexuality is a sin and that no one has ever suggested other sins such as murder should be made legal. Renfroe then said that all sin is equal.
“Homosexuality is seen as a violation of this natural creative order and is an offense to God the creator who created men and women, male and female for procreation,” Renfroe said.
Quoting Leviticus, a book in the Old Testament in the Bible, Renfroe said that homosexuals “shall surely be put to death, their bloodguiltness is upon them.”
Renfroe’s comments have made national headlines this week and have attracted the attention of such gay and lesbian groups as GLAAD.
Renfroe said in an interview before a committee meeting Wednesday afternoon that he was sorry if his comments offended anyone, but that he stood behind them.
“I apologize if my use of words did upset people, I guess,” said Renfroe, a member of Eaton’s Evangelical Free Church. “I probably could have been more eloquent.”
Renfroe also clarified his comments on homosexuality.
“It’s not any greater or any less (a sin than any other sin),” Renfroe said. “It’s equal on a plane that all sins are sin.”
Renfroe also said he doesn’t think the Old Testament verses he quoted that say homosexuals will “surely be put to death” should be followed by people.
“Obviously I don’t condone that and wouldn’t support that,” Renfroe said.
But, Renfroe said, the bill could clear the way for gay marriage, which voters struck down in 2006. Condoning homosexual behavior isn’t proper, he said.
“I don’t think that’s the proper role of government,” he said.
Bobby Clark, deputy director of ProgressNow Colorado, said Wednesday that Renfroe’s comments might make some people believe that violence against homosexuals is OK and is dangerous speech, especially coming from a public official.
Clark said Renfroe himself was probably committing other sins on the Senate floor Monday afternoon if he was wearing a cotton/polyester blend shirt amd that many farmers in northern Colorado are guilty of similar sins in Leviticus if they plant different crops side by side.
In Leviticus, “if you have had shrimp, you’ve committed an abomination,” said Clark, who is gay.
For more, including more reaction from area religious and secular leaders, read Thursday's Tribune.
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