Whenever I am tempted to sneer at religion and to think of it in terms of the Pat Robertsons and Fred Niles, it does me good to read something by or about ex-POTUS and tireless champion of the poor Jimmy Carter; but even he can piss me off sometimes:

I personally, in my Sunday-school lessons, don’t favor the religious endorsement of a gay marriage. But I do favor equal treatment under the law for people who differ from me in sexual orientation.

[...]

I have always been against abortion; it’s not possible for me in my own concept of Christ to believe that Jesus would favor abortion. But at the same time, I have supported the Supreme Court ruling of our country as the law of the land. And the present arrangement, whereby a woman is authorized to have an abortion in the first trimester of the pregnancy, or when the pregnancy is caused by rape or incest -- these are the things that moderates who have beliefs like mine can accept as the present circumstances in our country.

Baal's bollocks, man! What part of "my body, my business" does your invisible friend not understand?

Of course, quotes with neither context nor further comment can be misleading; perhaps Mr Carter favours state-administered secular unions for all, with "marriage" reserved for religious institutions and the blessings they see fit to grant or withhold. I could go for that. I still don't like the sound of "accept as the present circumstances", but I can't see Mr Carter endorsing legislation that would take away a woman's control over her own body. Perhaps he would favour leaving abortion legal but providing strong advocacy for carrying to term even rape babies, together with state support for women who choose that option. Perhaps I could even cope with that.

(link-fu props to the spousal unit)