WATCH: Ted Cruz Claims LGBT Activists Will Charge Pastors With Hate Speech

With a majority of Americans now consistently supporting marriage equality, Sen. Ted Cruz, a Texas Republican, claims the next step of the "gay agenda" will be to charge pastors with hate speech for preaching from the Bible, reports RightWingWatch.

"If you look at other nations that have gone down the road towards gay marriage, that's the next step of where it gets enforced," Cruz told David Brody during an interview aired on the Christian Broadcasting Network Friday. "It gets enforced against Christian pastors who decline to perform gay marriages, who speak out and preach biblical truths on marriage, that has been defined elsewhere as hate speech, as inconsistent with the enlightened view of government. I think there is no doubt that the advocates who are driving this effort in the United States want to see us end up in that same place."

In reality, religious officials are protected from arrest -- even if they refuse to perform a gay or lesbian wedding -- by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion. But that fact hasn't stopped Cruz from spreading fear among his base with outright lies.

"Everywhere I go people are afraid for the future of our country;" Cruz told Brody. "I think we're at the edge of a precipice. If we keep going down this path, we're risking losing our nation; we're risking losing the incredible oasis of liberty."

Watch a clip from the interview below, via RightWingWatch.