Bob Marshall’s God is not my God (UPDATED)
By JR Hoeft | Monday, February 22nd, 2010 | UncategorizedFrom PoliticalWire:
Virginia State Delegate Bob Marshall (R) “says disabled children are God’s punishment to women who have aborted their first pregnancy,” reports the News Leader.
Said Marshall: “The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children.”
The God I believe in is one who forgives us all our sins when we confess to Him that we are fallible and unworthy of His grace. But thanks to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who bore for us on His shoulders all the sins of the world, through faith in Him we are granted mercy and salvation.
Marshall has it wrong. We do not have an Old Testament God. We are saved from certain damnation and punishment by the suffering of Jesus Christ on Calvary.
Surely during Lent Marshall would remember this?
Regardless, many have received great joy and love from those very same disabled kids Marshall would condemn as “God’s punishment.”
UPDATE: The Staunton News Leader (who broke this story) has the audio clip. Marshall is expected to release a statement shortly. Meanwhile, a petition is being circulated online asking Marshall to apologize and resign.
UPDATE 2 (by Jason Kenney): As of 5pm EST 2/22 “Delegate Bob Marshall” is a trending topic on Twitter in the United States:
UPDATE 3 (by Jason Kenney): Del. Marshall responds via TPM and a statement on his website.
From his website:
A story by Capital News Service regarding my remarks at a recent press conference opposing taxpayer funding for Planned Parenthood conveyed the impression that I believe disabled children are a punishment for prior abortions. No one who knows me or my record would imagine that I believe or intended to communicate such an offensive notion. I have devoted a generation of work to defending disabled and unwanted children, and have always maintained that they are special blessings to their parents. Nevertheless, I regret any misimpression my poorly chosen words may have created as to my deep commitment to fighting for these vulnerable children and their families.
Marshall insisted that his comments had been taken out of context. (Here’s the exact quote, which I read to him, and he said sounded accurate: “The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children.”) However, he said, he was discussing an increased rate of birth defects, not all birth defects in and of themselves.
Marshall cited articles in medical journals, which he claimed showed an increased rate of cerebral palsy, low birth weights and premature births among women who have had prior induced abortions.
UPDATE 4 (by Jason Kenney): Bob Holsworth talks about how defunding Planned Parenthood is about to go viral:
The stories circulated widely this morning among disability advocates across Virginia.
At this moment, it’s about to go viral.
Tomorrow, all the major papers will be following up on Kelsey Radcliffe.
And asking McDonnell, Bolling, and Cuccinelli what they think of Marshall’s comment.
The national media will surely follow. It’s grist for Olbermann’s mill.
But there is a remarkable twist to the story.
Tags:
Contribute for Conservatism!
Share this post
About the author
Conservative to the core; liberal with his opinion! J.R. has been involved in politics for over a decade and has worked on several campaigns in Hampton Roads. He has served on the Executive Committee of the Republican Party of Chesapeake and the Central Committee of the Republican Party of Virginia. He is also the director of “Blogs United” in Virginia. E-mail J.R.. Follow J.R. on Twitter.
Comments
39 Responses to "Bob Marshall’s God is not my God (UPDATED)"
Sarah Palin’s son has down syndrome…does that mean she had an abortion…give me a break. I used to have respect for Del. Marshall and his fight against abortion in the GA. Now I just cringe when I hear words like that. He gives Christians a bad name, especially those who serve in public office.
As the parent of a child with Autism my son is a blessing from God and not punishment to anyone. Now my wrath as a parent who is insulted by this ignorance will be God’s punishment to Bob for being a ignorant fool. Resign Bob show some class at least get on the floor of the House and appologize for being stupid!
Marshall should go read John, Ch. 9:
1. As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2. His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”
3. “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus
Marshall needs to fix this or his rumored statewide ambitions just got crushed.
I think Bob Marshall’s statewide ambitions are crushed for good.
Idiotarian.
Several years ago I belonged to a very fundamentalist Baptist church for about 6 months. After 6 months you get to really understand them.
I remember a “discussion” that I tried to have with a couple of members that perhaps the earth and universe might be more then 10,000 years old. I was trying to use the fact that I had found fossils myself in the “field”. They told me that God had created those fossils when he had created the earth less then 10,000 years ago. I asked them why God would create fossils of animals that never existed that looked like they were millions of years old. The answer that I received was “because He wanted to”.
This is only one example of many discussions that I tried to have. The constitution allows freedom of religion and I believe everyone has the right to find God in their own way.
For a fundamentalist “if it disagrees with the Bible (the fundamentalist view of the Bible), then it is wrong and probably straight from Satan” is not very far from the mark.(at least for the church that I went to)
Knowing Bob Marshall, he must have found some research that links abortion to birth defects. So far, I have not been able to find any studies to support his conclusion.
Anyone who doubts that God punishes us, is crazy. Just look at the way He punished us with that idiot, George Bush for the last eight years. I am sure many Americans often asked, “What the … did we do to deserve this Bush a-hole?” Well, thanks to Bob Marshall, now we know. It was God punishing us again. Does God send retards to punish women who have had abortions? Unlikely, since if this were indeed His work, everyone who had a prior abortion would get a retard on the next ensuing pregnancy.
As for those who keep claiming that getting a retard is a “blessing” spare everyone your delusion. One of my children was born with a birth defect and it cost us thousands and several surgeries to help her to be able to walk somewhat normally. That sure as Hell wasn’t a “blessing” and yet, I never felt like blaming God was the right conclusion, either. I can only share a deep sadness with those who have children whose defects are not correctable, by surgery or other means.
Having a child who will NEVER become self sufficient, who will never grow to full adulthood, or who will constantly drain the resources from the rest of a family and the community, is no blessing; but is a horrible burden that wears everyone down who is involved with such a birth.
I can empathize with those who see the birth of a retarded or disfigured child to think that God was visiting punishment upon the family. However, a more rational conclusion would be that there is a medical or stress-induced cause for these defects to occur. The March of Dimes funds a great deal of research on causes of birth defects. Consider checking their block when filling out your next Combined Federal Campaign (or other organized giving form) at work.
http://www.petitiononline.com/mod_perl/signed.cgi?disable1
Sign the petition and clean out the cruft!
Delegate Marshall’s comments are embarassing. Perhaps the 13th district should be redistricted to allow a real challenge.
Uncontestable districts lead to out-of-touch candidates and out-of-touch comments.
Paul,
I respect your right to your opinion and yes having a child with Autism is very hard but still at the end of the day I am far more blessed than you can ever realize. Yes I would choose for my son to be “neurotypical” but still He’s given me so much and shown me so much more whats really important in this world.
[...] are somehow punishments handed down by the Lord is the one that has generated the most heat (here’s one of the gentler exmaples, and like JR, I disagree with that inference strongly), but [...]
[...] are somehow punishments handed down by the Lord is the one that has generated the most heat (here’s one of the gentler exmaples, and like JR, I disagree with that inference strongly), but [...]
As someone who voted for Del. Marshall in the last election, and as a pro-life Roman Catholic, there needs to be a retraction or some kind of explanation regarding these remarks, which I agree are completely out of line. However, I will stop short of saying he should resign, because there are plenty of politicians who say all kinds of things which could be considered extreme or over the line and they have not resigned as a result. I have no doubt, however, that these remarks will be considered by the voters of the 13th District come 2011 and many may think twice about supporting him for reelection.
Is it any wonder why normal people and good friends refrain from discussing politics and religion?
Here is a follow-up on the part of Del. Marshall: http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2010/02/virginia-state-delegate-i-dont-believe-that-disabled-kids-are-gods-punishments-period.php. However, it doesn’t sound much like a retraction to me.
Bob Marshall is truely shameless. I would hope now the Republican Caucus would remove him as my Party has no room for pigs like this.
Bob deserves the benefit of the doubt: he has been a champion the of the disabled and unborn for his career.He is a true statesman.To demand his resignation is absurd.Hes failable, he made a mistake and he said he was sorry.
A Champion for his own purposes perhaps. Bob is about one person Bob. Sorry isn’t good enough. His words were dishonorable and just downright evil and to bring God Himself into his venom is offensive beyond reproach. Our children are worth way more than some meaningless apology. You said what you said there are no take backs in the world of grownups. Now be a grownup and go away. Leave my party and the General Assembly post haste!
Marshall’s statement is one theologically wrong for starters, and second is just plain pigheaded. Statements like his do more to harm the pro-life movement then any other countless “positive” actions he may believe he is doing.
Would Jesus Christ us Marshall’s words? No, it reminds me of the bumper sticker “Lord, protect me from Your followers” As a believer in Christ, why is it that so much of what is cringe worthy comes from the mouths of fellow Believers?
My only question: What sins did Marshall’s parents commit?
having seen Marshall give intelligent dissertations on property rights, I am truly disappointed in his comments. I am sincerely afraid of politicians who have impact on our daily lives and have these sort of thoughts on life.
He may be intelligent on property rights, but a crack pot he is. Del. Marshall obviously has a hot line to God, so we should ask him what other wisdom he can spew forth that will enlighten us as to God’s reasons for the Haiti earthquake, mudslides in California, flooding in Portugal, and why we have diseases like AIDS and H1N1.
As a Christian, it always makes me sad to see other “Christians” make statements that in no way represent the God I love and adore. As Brian can attest, I have made mistakes in the way I word things when I post way past my bedtime, however, Marshall’s statement is unloving, unkind, cruel, and past the threshold of being decent.
I feel Lee Tally’s rightful outrage.
[...] article, a number of bloggers and activists have been questioning his words and motives such as Bearing Drift and The Right-Wing Liberal. In addition, some folks (661 as of this post) have signed a petition [...]
Thanks for your kind words of support Kathy! Bob must go. Its the only solution to this dire offense!
March of Dimes has a dismal rating at Charity Navigator, and the current president makes over 500K/year.
Paul, check out other charities that do similar work but make better use of funds. I like charity:water for starters.
http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4045
Also, the WAY we do birth in this country contributes to some (some not all) birth defects. For example, having a mother “close your legs and wait for the doctor to get here” increases the baby’s chance of cerebral palsy. The medical gold standard of care isn’t always the best choice for mothers and babies.
Could it be that Del. Marshall and Pat Robertson are channeling each other through God?
“CNN aired a piece of Communist Party propaganda about how Cuba could serve as ‘a model for health care reform in the United States’ ” The CNN report included clips from Michael Moore’s Sicko as CNN’s Morgan Neill, on location in a Potemkin Havana hospital, gushed about Cuban healthcare’s “impressive statistics.” “Cuba’s infant mortality rates” he reported, “are the lowest in the hemisphere, in line with those of Canada!”
Of course what they failed to mention was that any Cuban pregnancy that even hints at trouble gets “terminated.”(abortion)
see http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/08/cubas_healthcare_a_model_for_t.html
Just like the way the EPA ignores the fact that Professor Phil Jones says that we have had global cooling for the last 8 years.
James, interesting that Loyola touched on Cuban health care and economy last night in the debate streamed on Bearing Drift.
I am a mother of a handicapped child and when i say child I mean it. Physically he is 26 but mentally he is 5. I have not had an abortion so suck that up Bob Marshall. My son was full term and we did not know of any problems till after his birth. Having a handicapped child had taught me a lot in life and I would not trade one minute of it. Seeing all of this I even hope people that do not have special needs children and adults will rally beind us.
Bob Marshall can’t be that bad: he was born in the same town (Takoma Park, MD) that I was.
If you follow Marshall’s logic then what sin did I or my wife commit to have a child with autism. Is there some sin menu in heaven that doles out bad things to innocents because of what we do. All life is sacred in God’s eyes and none of it is any less sacred because of some “sin” that the parents may have committed. All sin is the same in God’s eyes. Marshall sinned by mocking the sacredness of the life of a disabled child and it God’s view that sin is the same as abortion or murder or telling a little “white” lie.
Slander Law Suit ?????
The Newleader said “RICHMOND — State Delegate Bob Marshall of Manassas says disabled children are God’s punishment to women who have aborted their first pregnancy.He made that statement Thursday at a press conference to oppose state funding for Planned Parenthood.”The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall, a Republican.”In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”"
This is exactly what he said below.
“Thank you very much for coming here today. We are dealing with an attempt to defund, frankly, a malevolent organization. And I say that because you know people by their fruits. In 1960, 65, the out of wed-lock birthrate for blacks was 25 percent. I think it was about 23 percent in 1960 – it was 5 percent for all races. Now it’s 40 percent. It’s 72% for blacks, 51% for Latinas. These are the fruits of planned parenthood. OK. Nothing else. More heartache. More guys who are completely irresponsible and think that women have one function and one function only for a few minutes. OK. But this just isn’t affecting our families, our inner cities, our communities and our state. This poison animates a world-wide population control program that the United States funds and which is unnecessarily making us enemies overseas. We are attacking traditional family structure in a way that no country should be doing. These aren’t my words. Go read a book by Denesh DeSouza. Ok. He’s looking at it from a cultural, historical perspective. This organization should be called Planned Barrenhood cause they have nothing to do with families, they have nothing to do with responsibility. One-fourth of all abortions are done by Planned Parenthood in the United States. Ok. The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion who have handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first-born of any, Nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children. In the Old Testament, the first-born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest, and with the knowledge they have from faith has been verified by a study by the Virginia Commonwealth University. First abortions of the first pregnancy are much more damaging to the woman than latter abortions. None of these are good for anybody but this organization has had its time. They have failed in their efforts and we need to defund them and not have them receive a dime of public money.”
Um Have you heard the audio link from above. So as Del Marshall called our anger “Bullshit!”. I call your quote. BULLSHIT!
Your comment sir about abortion is a load of garbage. My mother never had an abortion, but two of her children had handicaps explain that away Delegate Bob Marshall. I can’t believe someone actually elected you to office. Glad I don’t live in your state.
I don’t get it, Hazel Pawell
gee, hazel pawell is a link to a porn site. How à propos.
Leave your response
The comments section is for meaningful discussion. Readers are reminded to post comments that are germane to the article and write in a common language that steers clear of personal attacks and/or vulgarities.
Please take a moment to review our comment policy.