Singular/plural Verb after relative clause

Okay, now that I have your attention, let’s talk about sex.

[quote]
Due to a grammatical error in the section condemning homosexuality in the 2016 Texas Republican platform, the state party has actually suggested that the “majority of Texans” are gay and that the behavior of LGBT people is “ordained by God.”

“Homosexuality is a chosen behavior that is contrary to the fundamental unchanging truths that has been ordained by God in the Bible, recognized by our nations founders, and shared by the majority of Texans.”

The copy editors at NPR noted that by using the singular “has” instead of “have,” the rest of the sentence refers to “behavior” instead of “truths.” NPR noted that the 2014 Texas Republican platform does not contain the same errors.[/quote]

It’s obviously a mistake in intent, but is the sentence grammatically correct if “has” is read as referring to ‘behavior’ ? I would say no.

Awesome post!

To keep the awesome unintended meaning and to make the sentence grammatically correct, you could perhaps change the first “that” to “which.” But even then something wonky happens with the appearance of “the” in the clause “which is fundamental to the unchanging truths.”

Still, with all the conceptual problems here, it’s pretty terrific to take this guy down for subject-verb agreement. :slight_smile:

Guy