Christian Activists: Children Better Off Orphans Than With Gay Parents

The religious right's love affair with the anti-gay policies of Russian President Vladmir Putin continued Sunday on the weekly edition of ABC's "This Week with George Stephanopoulos," when a panel of mostly conservative commentators supported the ban on gay adoption in Russia. Mediaite.com reports.

In a segment titled "The Religious Right in 2014," host Martha Raddatz played a recent interview with Reverand Franklin Graham, where he purported that gay parents who adopt children are "recruiting." Graham praised Putin for moving to enact a ban on adoption by gay parents in Russia while criticizing President Obama.

"Putin is going to do what's right for Russia. Not what's right for America" Graham told Raddatz. "We used to have a president that did what's right for this country, but we don't seem to have that now."

While shying away from praising Putin, panelist Ralph Reed of the Faith and Freedom Coalition commented on the potential damages of single or same-sex parenting without citing any particular study.

"This isn't about Vladimir Putin, this is about what's best for children here in the United States. The social science is irrefutable: a child who grows up in a home without the mother and father present, and they both very unique procreative, nurturing, and socializing roles, they're nine times more likely to end up dropping out of high school; they're five times more likely to end up in poverty; and they're three times more likely to end up addicted to drugs and alcohol." Reed said.

Cokie Roberts, the lone non-evangelical on the panel, challenged Reed's comments. "But the social science is also irrefutable that a child raised in an orphanage is in much worse shape than a child raised in a home," The award-winning journalist further stated. "And the fact that people are willing to take these children and raise them, and raise them in a loving way, is clearly better for these children."

When asked by Raddatz if he agreed that children would be "better off sitting in an orphanage than have gay parents," Reed replied "I think the social science is just simply not in yet on same-sex couples," further stating, "I think the law has every right to set an ideal. And the ideal is a mother and a father."

Graham's comments on same-sex parenting, Putin and Obama aren't the first time the son of evangelist Billy Graham has has praised the Russian despot while criticizing the US president for his support of gay rights.

According to Wikipedia , Graham supported North Carolina Amendment 1, which was passed by a voter referendum on May 8, 2012, prohibiting same-sex marriage and all domestic partnerships. Graham responded to Obama's May 9, 2012, statement of support for same-sex marriage, saying, "President Obama has, in my view, shaken his fist at the same God who created and defined marriage. It grieves me that our president would now affirm same-sex marriage, though I believe it grieves God even more." Graham defended Russian President Vladimir Putin's stance against homosexuality, praising him for "protecting children from any homosexual agenda or propaganda."