New Rule in 'Murika

There's a new rule in Merika (or maybe it's an old rule and we just ignored it for a while). Here it is:

Gay's are bad, while torture is OK.

Read it in the New York Times. The writer, Bob Herbert asks:

Our henchmen in places like Syria, Egypt, Morocco, Uzbekistan and Jordan are torturing terror suspects at the behest of a nation - the United States - that just went through a national election in which the issue of moral values was supposed to have been decisive. How in the world did we become a country in which gays' getting married is considered an abomination, but torture is O.K.?

Is there a good answer to this? My guess is that it's found somewhere deep in someone's misinterpretation of The Bible. But I could be wrong on that.
More from Herbert:

Any government that commits, condones, promotes or fosters torture is a malignant force in the world. And those who refuse to raise their voices against something as clearly evil as torture are enablers, if not collaborators.

For those not paying attention, THAT'S US - The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave, The Shining City on the Hill, 'Merika.