Romney Defends Opposition to Gay Marriage by Citing Scripture

BOSTON (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney (pictured left) is defending his opposition to gay marriage by citing the Scriptures.

The former Massachusetts governor, who in his 1994 Senate bid pledged to be a more effective champion for gay causes than his Democratic rival, discussed gay marriage in an interview set to air Sunday on CBS' ``60 Minutes.''

``This isn't just some temporary convenience here on Earth, but we're people that are designed to live together as male and female and we're gonna have families,'' he tells interviewer Mike Wallace, according to an excerpt CBS released Friday. ``And that, there's a great line in the Bible that children are an inheritance of the Lord and happy is he who has or hath his quiver full of them.''

Romney, seeking to become the first Mormon president, also tries to allay any concerns about his religion.

``What's at the heart of my faith is a belief that there's a creator, that we're all children of the same God, and that fundamentally the relationship you have with your spouse is important and eternal,'' Romney said over the course of two interviews, one of which was taped at his vacation home in Wolfeboro, N.H.

Meanwhile, Romney also is on the cover of the latest edition of Time magazine.

In its main story, Time writes, ``The closest he has ever come to a personal religious crisis, he recalls, was when he was in college and considering whether to go off on a mission, as his grandfather, father and brother had done. ... He says he also felt guilty about the draft deferment he would get for it, when other young men his age were heading for Vietnam.''

The complete story may be found here:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,,-6626885,00.html