Earlier today it was reported that a group of eight medical students at John Hopkins have created a petition and are calling for Dr. Ben Carson to be removed as commencement speaker for his comments on Hannity’s TV show earlier this week when he was asked about gay marriage:
Well, my thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman. It’s a well-established, fundamental pillar of society and no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality. It doesn’t matter what they are. They don’t get to change the definition. So hey, it’s not something that is against gays, it’s against anybody who wants to come along and change the fundamental definitions of pillars of society. It has significant ramifications.
The Boston Globe spoke with Carson today and he apologized as intent wasn’t to offend anyone, but the also clarified his statement pointing out once again that his point was that no one has the right to change the definition of marriage:
“I think people have completely taken the wrong meaning out of what I was saying,” the 61-year-old surgeon said in a telephone interview Friday. “First of all, I certainly believe gay people should have all the rights that anybody else has. What I was basically saying is that as far as marriage is concerned that has traditionally been between a man and a woman and nobody should be able to change that.”
“Now perhaps the examples were not the best choice of words, and I certainly apologize if I offended anyone,” he added. “But the point that I was making was that no group of individuals, whoever they are, whatever their belief systems, gets to change traditional definitions. The reason I believe the way I do, I will readily confess, is because I am a Christian who believes in The Bible.”
The Bible, he explained, “…says we have an obligation to love our fellow man as ourselves, and I love everybody the same — all homosexuals. Everybody who knows me knows I would never say anything to intentionally hurt someone.”
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When asked about the petition Friday, Carson said, “I’ve caught wind of it and I’ve sent back a message that this is their graduation, their big day, and if they think me being there is going to be a problem, I am happy to withdraw.”
UPDATE: Here’s an interview that Carson did today with Andrea Mitchell on this issue (h/t: Daily Caller)