THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, March 7, 1995 TAG: 9503070008
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
I believe it is an abomination unto God that there are homosexuals who call themselves Christians.
According to Webster's encyclopedia and the Bible, ``Christian'' or ``Christianity'' is defined as ``conformity to the Christian religion or its beliefs or practices'' and ``pertaining to, or derived from, Jesus Christ or his teachings.''
Jesus himself said, ``Don't misunderstand why I have come. It isn't to cancel the laws of Moses and the warnings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them and to make them all come true. With all the earnestness I have I say: Every law in the Book will continue until its purpose is achieved.''
Godly Christians are called to judge moral conduct according to the standards set forth in the Bible. We have been instructed, ``When a person has escaped from the wicked ways of the world by learning about the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then gets tangled up with sin and becomes its slave again, he is worse off than he was before. It would be better if he had never known about Christ at all. . . . There is an old saying that, `A dog comes back to what he has vomited, and a pig is washed only to come back and wallow in the mud again.' That is the way it is with those who turn again to their sin.''
It is a sin that violence against gays and lesbians happens every day, but it is also a sin to continue living a lifestyle that embraces homosexuality.
My prayers go up for Mel White and his followers in the hope that they come to the greater knowledge of understanding the true purpose for which Jesus Christ came.
I also commend Pat Robertson for upholding the morality that the Bible endorses and that which Jesus Christ fulfilled.
DEBE LOVING
Virginia Beach, March 1, 1995
I am the mother of a daughter who happens to be a lesbian. She told me about her sexual orientation on her 18th birthday 22 years ago. For just a moment the world stopped for me. Quickly, all of the acts of homophobia, all of the lack of understanding by so many people went through my mind. Then I remembered how bright, intelligent, hard-working, inventive and caring she is. I had no interest then or now in what goes on behind the bedroom doors of any of my children. It is, after all, a small and very private part of their lives.
Those who would condemn these people for that small private part of their lives and ignore the rest are at best short-sighted.
Jesus gave us two commandments: to love God, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. If this was good enough for him, it is good enough for me.
I do not believe my daughter is going to hell. I am not so sure about those who judge her.
LORETTA JENSEN
Virginia Beach, March 1, 1995
I have just finished watching several hours of videotape of Pat Robertson's ``The 700 Club,'' trying to understand what he says and believes about gays. I was appalled at what was called news.
Everything he showed was biased, showing instances of gays demonstrating but not covering the beatings and murders of gays in America or of homosexual couples being evicted from their apartments or being fired from their jobs simply because they were gay or lesbian.
When he ``reports'' on legislation to secure equal rights for homosexuals, he inevitably uses the same tired pictures of a Gay Pride event where the camera has found behavior selected to prejudice his audience.
This slick program uses its brand of the news to label all Americans who don't believe as Pat and his Religious Right followers do the enemy.
Like others before him (remember, the pink triangles proudly sported by gays and lesbians now were actually death sentences worn in the German concentration camps), Pat is using homophobic scare tactics to rally his supporters for his media empire.
People of conscience and those with true Christian love have to stand up and shout: ``Enough is enough!'' If Jesus were here today, he would be with Mel White's delegation asking Pat Robertson to stop the hate rhetoric. Jesus said : Love one another. Pat should meet with Mel.
DENNIS OWEN
Norfolk, March 1, 1995 by CNB