Rhode Island’s newest hero is Wheeler sixth-grader Matthew Lannon who testified about his own family at Thursday’s Senate Judiciary hearing on the same-sex marriage bills. The marathon hearing lasted until 5am Friday morning; we hope Lannon was allowed to testify early on, it being a school night. His composure and poise under such circumstances was remarkable enough to garner the attention of a national audience (Salon) (HuffPo). And Kris Craig of The Providence Journal has put together a nice video.
On the other side of the issue we have Senator Harold M. Metts (D-Providence), a deacon of the Congdon Street Baptist Church, who rambled on about scripture, abominations, and the Babylonian exile evincing complete ignorance of both history and the Bible. From Edward Fitzpatrick’s column in the Sunday ProJo,
Also, Metts said, “The nations that followed God’s word were blessed and those who rejected it were cursed. Need I remind you of the Babylonian captivity in ancient Israel? I will probably be gone by then, but I certainly don’t want my grandchildren taken into captivity in China or elsewhere.”
His irrational statements would have been bad enough as testimony. But this man is a state senator, and he sits on the Judiciary Committee.