Dean Young, a candidate for Congress in Alabama's first district, says he's being "inundated by the left" for his endorsement of traditional marriage and his request that fellow Republican primary candidates do the same.
The battle came to a head this week when the left-leaning Huffington Post headlined a story about him and his work titled "Alabama GOP candidate wants his opponents to promise they're anti-gay, religious enough."
The story says: "Alabama Republican Dean Young, a candidate for the congressional seat of retiring Rep. Jo Bonner, R-Ala., is not a fan of gay rights. So, in an effort to make opposition to gay marriage a key issue in the crowded GOP primary race, Young unveiled a pledge this week asking his opponents to affirm their religious faith and opposition to LGBT rights."
But Young said he's not "anti-gay" and that his purpose in calling for his fellow Republicans to pledge support is based on solid moral and historical principles.
"We're very close to being at the end of our nation. If we don't support the godly principles that made this nation great, then we're going to lose this nation," he said.
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"This shouldn't even be a political question. I thought it would be a very simple thing to have the candidates come together and support marriage as being one man and one woman," Young said.
His pledge, which has drawn out the critics, states: "It is time for men and women of faith to stand for the founding Christian values and morals that made our nation great, to defend our families and the sacred holiness of marriage."
The Huntsville Times in Alabama reports that Young has caused a "feud" in the state's Republican Party over same-sex marriage.
Young is asking the eight other Republican candidates running in the Sept. 24 primary election to sign a pledge saying that, if elected to Congress, they will take active steps to oppose gay marriage, the paper said.
The Alabama Republican Party has not responded to WND's request for comment.
Young has explained his purpose is "to show solidarity in the Republican Party."
"I had no idea that the response from my fellow candidates would be what it has been," he said.
Young admits to being taken aback by the amount of attention his call for a pro-family pledge has received.
"I had no idea that this would turn into a national onslaught and that the Huffington Post and other liberal papers would think that's such a bizarre thing that I did," he said.
He said it is important for lawmakers to have solid moral principles.
"We need to send to Washington [those who] will stand up for what made this country great. If we can't stand up for the family unit, beginning with what makes a marriage, then I don't think a person needs to go to Washington," Young said.
He said the nation needs leaders "who know right from wrong, and if you're not willing to stand up for real moral values, then you don't need to be in Washington, D.C., representing your people."
Young said the absence of such values already is evident.
"Once you see the president and the secretary of state standing in front of the camera and lying about Benghazi, saying it was a video when they knew full well that it was an organized terrorist attack, you know you've lost your moral compass," he said.
"These are the types of things that happen. The IRS goes after people they don't like because they want to. I just mentioned Benghazi, but then you have the NSA spying on everyone. It all goes back to whether this stuff is right or wrong," Young said.
On his website, Young lists state Supreme Court Chief Justice Roy Moore as one of his supporters.
"Having worked with you for many years and through many of my own campaigns for public office, I know you to be a man of great ability as well as one of the highest moral and ethical standards," Moore wrote of Young.
"I know you will do an outstanding job representing the people of our great state. Our country needs leaders who are not afraid to speak the truth and stand up for those ideals and principles which have set us apart from the rest of the world," Moore wrote.
Some pro-family groups have hesitated to voice support for Young, but Massachusetts Family Institute President Kris Mineau welcomed the stand.
"Congressional candidate Dean Young is to be commended for his strong stand on marriage and his willingness to take it to his opponents," Mineau said.
Young said his concern is that the U.S. seems to be going the direction of other civilizations that have turned from sound moral principles.
"This is one of the last strongholds that you see in all civilizations. When they abandoned their basic morals, that was the turning point," Young said. "You look at ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and other civilizations. Once they abandoned sound morals and turned to corruption, like watching people kill each other in the Coliseum, the civilizations fell."