Presidential candidate and former senator Rick Santorum spoke with Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council on Friday’s Today’s Issues to discuss New York’s new same-sex marriage law. Santorum said that it is “absurd” that “they’re using this idea of equality” to advance the legalization of same-sex marriage, which he believes is part of “an agenda that is ultimately going to destroy the family.” He went on to tell Perkins that marriage equality is part of the left’s effort to take “more control of your lives” by weakening “the family and the church.”

Perkins: But you see what’s behind this with the homosexual activists that they will not rest with simply accommodation but they want to force every state in the nation to change their laws to recognize same-sex marriage.

Santorum: Yeah. They want to force their worldview on us and they’re using this idea of ‘equality,’ which is absurd. This has nothing to do with how two people want to live their lives. It has everything to do with an agenda that is ultimately going to destroy the family, weaken the family and weaken our religious liberties in this country. This is going to transform, you know, the left is very enthusiastic about this agenda because it is an opportunity to get after the things that they see standing in the way of them taking control, more control of your lives, which is the family and the church. And so what better to do that than by destroying the institution of marriage and by saying anybody who opposes them is a bigot and therefore, and that includes people in the clergy.