#2818: Scott Esk

More shit from the past! Scott Esk is an Oklahoma fundie who supports stoning gay peopleto death. In particular, Esk was a 2014 Oklahoma state House candidate for the Tea Party, and although the state was already famous for its anti-gay policies back then, Esk was apparently dismayed by his fellow candidates’ reluctance to grow a real spine on the issue: “I think we would be totally in the right to do it,” said Esk, adding that stoning gay people to death “goes against some parts of libertarianism, I realize, and I’m largely libertarian, but ignoring as a nation things that are worthy of death is very remiss.” You see, stoning “was done in the Old Testament under a law that came directly from God” and “what was done back then was what’s just. … And I do stand for Biblical morality.” Now, to pacify those with some concerns about his suitability for the legislature, Esk was quick to add that “I never said I would author legislation to put homosexuals to death, but I didn’t have a problem with it.” So there.

 

And if you consider aspects of his view to be offensive, Esk is ready to set the record straight: “The fact is, that it’s much more offensive knowing what obscene things homosexuals do with each other than it is for somebody to hold the view that it is indecent.” Esk ultimately received 5% of his district’s vote in the primary; not much, perhaps, but it means that a number of people did vote for him, and he received some 43% when he tried again in 2022.

 

Diagnosis: Thing is, Scott Esk and his views represent a major strand of American “libertarianism” – one that makes “libertarianism” hard to distinguish from Taliban- or ISIS-style theocracies – and he does, apparently, enjoy far more support than reasonable people would like to think.