Matthew Yglesias writes:

The Problem With Principle. A correspondent of Andrew Sullivan's writes in to clarify why, exactly, it is that fundamentalists hate gay people:Our opposition to many aspects of the homosexual agenda (marriage rights, etc.) is based on principle. Not fear, ignorance, hatred or even puritanism....

Ah. We saw the "principle dodge" being made many times by defenders of Rick Santorum, though in that case the ruling principle was the supremacy of papal diktat rather than Protestant textualism. The correct rebuttal is the same as before: So you've got a principle, so what? Principles are a dime a dozen, Hitler had 'em, Mao had 'em, I've got 'em, and so does Andrew Sullivan and Rick Santorum and this letter-writing guy. We've really defined deviancy down a great deal when the only test your opinions need to pass is that they be "principled" at which point they're beyond criticism.

Matthew is dead-on here; it's astounding how often this tactic is used to justify the worst kinds of hateful attacks. The attempt to pass off homophobia as "religious convention" is a horrific conflation that must be exposed whenever it appears. And often it's very subtle, an apparently small part of a larger argument that the author "just manages to slip in," but is usually the real message of the piece. (The trick is to try to seem sympathetic and throw the kicker in at the end).

Take, for example, this bit on Santorum, written from Rod Dreher  (Rod, oddly, was close friend of mine in high school. A screaming liberal then, and a very sweet, wild, and fun guy):

Rod writes:

No public figure, least of all a politician, should be exempt from fair criticism. But when liberals denounce Santorum as unfit to hold a leadership position in his party, and demand that he apologize in part for his religious convictions, they go too far. It's hard to escape the conclusion that they believe those who profess orthodox faith are too morally tainted to be heard in the public square. There's a word for that: bigotry.

In what way was Santorum professing "orthodox faith"? His religion was not material here; if Santorum had been an atheist, and said the same thing, it would not matter in the least to the issue at hand.

Apparently, Rod believes that you can say any disgustingly homophobic comment (comparing it to "man-on-dog" sex) or racist thing as long as you can claim you do so because it's part of your religious beliefs. If someone criticized the KKK, who justify their racism through "orthodox religion", Rod is implying that the real bigots are the people attack the KKK. Nice trick.