AFA Uses Painting by Michelangelo in Ad Against Gay Marriage
The Southern Poverty Law Center designated anti-gay hate group the American Family Association (AFA) placed a full page ad in the Washington Post Tuesday, urging the United States Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage bans when the case is heard later this month.
Ironically, the image used in AFA's ad is the "Hand of God" which was painted by Michelangelo - a gay man.
Their appeal to the Supreme Court Justices in part reads:
Before you now is a great question: Will you bend what God designed merely to suit the desires of man, knowing that you do so at the expense of children, perhaps even civilization itself? If you decide to affirm marriage as between one man and one woman, you breathe life into the natural order and stand as an example to generations that will arise after your decision. But if you decide differently, you are choosing a path that will put the state on a legal and administrative collision course with hundreds of millions of Americans from all religious and faith practices who believe only God can define marriage. You would say by such a decision that mothers and fathers together are no longer relevant in the lives of children, and that religious expression about the sanctity and purpose of marriage would now become illicit. You would be saying that God has no place in our public square and, in a nation founded to secure freedom for those being persecuted for their faith, such a decision would be a tragic irony. In so doing you would not only risk another Roe v. Wade tear in our cultural fabric, but also effectively delegitimize the very power of the court itself to rule justly.
The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on whether states can ban same-sex marriage starting on April 28.
In an AFA "Action Alert" sent on Tuesday, the hate group is asking followers to "Consider making a tax-deductible donation to help cover the costs of the newspaper message and in support of God's design for marriage."
According to their rate card, a full page ad in a weekly edition of The Washington Post cost in excess of $10,000. It is a hefty sum for the cash-strapped hate group to pick up without a little fear-induced help.