Rick Santorum came up with another creative way to illustrate his opposition to marriage equality yesterday, telling Iowa radio host Simon Conway that allowing states to expand marriage to same-sex couples is like saying “the states have the right to redefine the chemical equation for water, it can be H3O instead of H2O.”
When Conway asked Santorum about Sen. Ted Cruz’s recent remarks about the need for conservatives to unify around one presidential candidate (him), Santorum took a dig at Cruz, implying that the Texas senator is a “libertarian” for wanting to return the decision about marriage equality to the states.
“Look, I’m very proud of the conservative record I’ve put together,” he said. “There’s no one who’s fought more on moral and cultural issues. I’m not a libertarian. There are people in this race that want the states to decide whether there should be same-sex marriage or polygamy or marijuana use. I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that the states have the right to redefine something that’s not capable of redefining.
“For me, when you say the states have the right to define marriage, it’s like saying, well, the states have the right to redefine the chemical equation for water, it can be H3O instead of H2O. Well, the states can’t do that. Why? Because nature dictates what water is, nature dictates what marriage is, and the states don’t have the right to violate what nature has dictated.”
