Glenn Beck: 'Gay Marriage Will Make the Universe Collapse'

Posted by Tana Ganeva, AlterNet at 4:48 PM on May 12, 2009.

According to Glenn Beck, marriage (rather than the atom) is the building block of the “entire universe”. Hence, same-sex marriage will destroy the universe.

And you thought same-sex marriage only threatened the virtue and innocence of children! That’s how much you know about science. In fact, equal treatment under the law, (which some hippies consider a key component of our democracy) is more like anti-matter -- capable of swallowing up the whole of existence.

Anyway, some lady called Glenn Beck’s radio show today, and brought up the totally original point that gay marriage will lead to incest.

If gay marriage is “all about love”, she wonders, “Why wouldn’t I be able to argue for wanting to marry my sister?”

Probably because of anti-incest laws and powerful, timeless societal taboos. (That said, there is no reason marriage should be linked to sex.  As a fair number of very smart people have pointed out, the government has no business legislating romantic love. This means that marriage, as a legal institution, should not be closed to any unit, including siblings and friends. And no, this doesn’t mean everyone will suddenly start banging their brothers and sisters. It means that non-romantic relationships often form viable social units and it makes no sense to deny any grouping of people who live as a family the legal rights and privileges conferred by marriage.)

Anyway, Beck and the caller proceed to stoke each other’s stupidity until the nonsense escalates to the point where same-sex marriage turns into some sort of Gay Galactus. “I contend [marriage] is the building block of the entire universe. If the male and the female don’t get together, then the whole universe collapses,” says renowned astrophysicist Beck.

Here’s the clip, via Media Matters:

Tagged as: sex, conservatives, talk radio, glenn beck, same-sex marriage, homophobia