World renowned pediatric neurosurgeon and rising Republican star Ben Carson weighed in on the Supreme Court's landmark gay marriage cases this week, voicing surprisingly harsh opposition to same-sex marriage.

"My thoughts are that marriage is between a man and a woman," Carson said in an interview with Fox News' Sean Hannity Tuesday. "It's a well-established fundamental pillar of society. And no group, be they gays, be they NAMBLA, be they people who believe in bestiality — it doesn't matter what they are. They don't get to change the definition."

"So it's not something that's against gays," he added. "It's against anybody who wants to come along and change the fundamental definitions of pillars of society. It has significant ramifications."

Watch the video below, courtesy of Media Matters:

Of course, Carson is not the only conservative who still opposes gay marriage. But the language and comparisons he uses are fairly shocking, even by Republican standards.

It's also worth noting that Carson is not just some fringy zealot that Media Matters latched onto to embarrass Republicans. In addition to being a famous Johns Hopkins surgeon — and the first person to successfully separate conjoined twins — Carson has become the new darling of the Republican Party, capturing conservative imaginations by criticizing President Barack Obama to his face during the National Prayer Breakfast last month.

Since then, Carson has been a fixture on Hannity's show, and roused the party faithful with a speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference. He even won 4 percent in the CPAC straw poll, coming in ahead of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.

But Carson's venture into gaffeland Tuesday indicates that his career in politics might be over before it even began — and demonstrates the danger Republicans face when they fall in love with a "candidate" who has yet to be vetted by a single voter.

h/t Dave Weigel