November 24, 2009 2:09 PM
- Text
Huckabee: Once You Change Marriage, There is "No Limit"
On this week's installment of @katiecouric, Mike Huckabee told Katie Couric that once you begin to change the definition of marriage to include gay people marrying each other, "then there is really no limit" to how it will be defined in the future.
"Can we change it to multiple spouses?" he asked. "If not, why not? You know, I hear people say, 'Well, what would be wrong?' What would be wrong, then, with a man having two or three or six or seven wives? Or a woman having six or seven husbands all at the same time? Other than the financial challenge of doing that."
He then used what he called the "illustration of polygamy" to further argue the point.
"Are we being just as bigoted and intolerant and lacking compassion 'cause we don't promote and accept and put a sanction on polygamy?," he asked. "I don't think so."
Huckabee, who supports a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, told Couric that it's "not that I'm against gay marriage, it's that I'm for traditional marriage."
"Marriage doesn't mean any and everything we want it to mean," he said. "In all the recorded years of human history it has only meant one thing. It has meant a man and a woman relationship, that not only created the next generation, but that trained the next generation to be their replacements. It's not just the matter of the biological reproduction, however. It's the context in which children are able to grow up understanding the role models that both the male and the female provide."
He added that "it's not a matter of tolerance and good will."
"I don't think it has to be a personal point of anger," Huckabee told Couric. "I think it's a matter of do you think that marriage means what it has always meant? And if we do say we can change it then who gives anyone the right to change it?"
Huckabee is promoting a new book, "A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories that Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit." You can watch the entire, 40-minute conversation with Couric here, and watch the segment on marriage above.
More blog posts on the interview:
• Huckabee on Sarah Palin, Other GOP "Rock Stars"
• Huckabee: Obama Bow in Japan was "Offensive"
More video from the interview:
• Watch The Full Conversation
• Will Huckabee Run in 2012?
• Huckabee Prefers Palin Over Obama
• Huckabee Disagrees with Bailouts
• Huckabee's Beef with Health Care
• Huckabee Criticizes Obama for Bowing
• Who are the Next GOP Rock Stars?
• Huckabee on Obama's Vision
"Can we change it to multiple spouses?" he asked. "If not, why not? You know, I hear people say, 'Well, what would be wrong?' What would be wrong, then, with a man having two or three or six or seven wives? Or a woman having six or seven husbands all at the same time? Other than the financial challenge of doing that."
He then used what he called the "illustration of polygamy" to further argue the point.
"Are we being just as bigoted and intolerant and lacking compassion 'cause we don't promote and accept and put a sanction on polygamy?," he asked. "I don't think so."
Huckabee, who supports a Constitutional amendment defining marriage as only between a man and a woman, told Couric that it's "not that I'm against gay marriage, it's that I'm for traditional marriage."
"Marriage doesn't mean any and everything we want it to mean," he said. "In all the recorded years of human history it has only meant one thing. It has meant a man and a woman relationship, that not only created the next generation, but that trained the next generation to be their replacements. It's not just the matter of the biological reproduction, however. It's the context in which children are able to grow up understanding the role models that both the male and the female provide."
He added that "it's not a matter of tolerance and good will."
"I don't think it has to be a personal point of anger," Huckabee told Couric. "I think it's a matter of do you think that marriage means what it has always meant? And if we do say we can change it then who gives anyone the right to change it?"
Huckabee is promoting a new book, "A Simple Christmas: Twelve Stories that Celebrate the True Holiday Spirit." You can watch the entire, 40-minute conversation with Couric here, and watch the segment on marriage above.
More blog posts on the interview:
• Huckabee on Sarah Palin, Other GOP "Rock Stars"
• Huckabee: Obama Bow in Japan was "Offensive"
More video from the interview:
• Watch The Full Conversation
• Will Huckabee Run in 2012?
• Huckabee Prefers Palin Over Obama
• Huckabee Disagrees with Bailouts
• Huckabee's Beef with Health Care
• Huckabee Criticizes Obama for Bowing
• Who are the Next GOP Rock Stars?
• Huckabee on Obama's Vision
-
Brian Montopoli Brian Montopoli is the senior political reporter at CBSNews.com.
Follow on Twitter »
Popular Now in Politics
- Archbishop Dolan urges Obama to back down on birth control
- Santorum sweeps Missouri, Minnesota, Colorado
- After Tues. sweep, Santorum seeks to gain speed
- STOCK Act passes in House
- Fallon vs. Obama in fitness challenge
- Contraception issue heats up as Santorum gains
- Congressional approval hits another all-time low
- Former Giffords aide to run for her House seat
- What Does 'GOP' Stand For?
- Dems fight back in contraceptive battle
- Rick Santorum finally gets his moment
- Obama leads Romney in Virginia poll
- No more Mr. Nice Guy for Santorum
- Romney says his conservatism will shine
- Santorum: I'm the consistent social conservative
- Mitt Romney glitter bombed, calls it confetti
- White House under pressure over contraception
Latest CBS News Headlines
on Facebook
on CBS News
- Barclays bank profit down 15 pct in 2011
- France's Total says profits up 12 percent in Q4
- Pebble Beach: Johnson in 3-way tie; Tiger strong
- New Mom Fear
on Facebook
- Tenn. father charged with murdering couple who"unfriended" daughter on Facebook
- Adele opens up about vocal cord surgery
- Mo. teen gets life in prison for murder of 9-year-old girl
on CBS News
