Letters
from 8 November 2004 to 14 November 2004
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Homosexuals
vs Ted Bundy
AFTER
READING A COUPLE OF YOUR RECENT LETTERS, I am called to respond.
First, in the matter regarding John Kerry as President. There is
no question that he would have had considerable trouble recruiting
and retaining individuals for the US military because of his Vietnam
War betrayal. Further, after his demeaning comments about the coalition
of nations currently fighting in Iraq, and he would have had considerable
difficulty holding the coalition together. Under such circumstances,
his election would have increased the likelihood of a draft, not
lessened it. Second, just because someone is born to behave in a
certain way doesn't mean they have to behave in that way. If that
were the case, Ted Bundy and other serial killers could claim that
their genes were responsible for their murderous and depraved behavior;
and, therefore, they should not be imprisoned or executed. No one
has to act upon a desire that is counterproductive to themselves
and society. Society has no responsibility to support counterproductive
behavior -- quite the contrary if the foundation of a productive society
is to be maintained.
Robert
Warren
Bruton Parish
Williamsburg, Virginia, USA
9 November 2004
Not to
judge but to love
TO
ANY GAY OR LESBIAN reading
these letters, hoping to find some grains of support and love from
within the worldwide Anglican communion following the Windsor Report,
I would like to assure you that there are MANY practising Anglicans
who support you. We are deeply concerned about the judgmental and
exclusionary views being expressed towards fellow Christians who
are homosexuals. It's as if those critics are saying, "thank you
God for making me a heterosexual so that I don't have to be a sinner
like that homosexual over there." We are asked
to love our neighbour, not to judge her or him.
Julianne
Stewart
St Luke's Church
Toowoomba, Queensland, AUSTRALIA
neliaju@hotmail.com
12 November 2004
Leave
the church if you must, but don't leave God
RICKIE
DOVER'S LETTER to
Anglicans Online (Church
is not for me) illustrates
the crux of the problem in our current debate. In spite of their
plea to the orthodox position, there are too many conservatives who
hold the unorthodox position -- whether they want to admit it or not
-- that homosexuals are doomed souls, and so the sooner the church
is rid of them the better off we will all be. Mr. Dover's conclusions
are the inevitable result of the conservative position.
As a homosexual
Christian myself, I have witnessed countless numbers of such renunciations
of faith from people who have received nothing but scorn and condemnation
from people who should be preaching love and acceptance instead.
I have tried, often in vain, to be a witness to these souls of Christ's
unfailing love for them in spite of what the church teaches. It is
a difficult task to make hurt, wounded people understand the difference
between God's infallible will and the message they get from the fallible
men who run His church. The dichotomy is often lost on them. Perhaps
they are victims of their own naivete, but I believe they are more
the victim of the church's own hate, for which they are not to be
blamed.
To Mr.
Dover, and every homosexual who has lost his/her faith because of
the Church, I offer a quote from [the Reverend] Charles Kingsley, a 19th-century
Christian reformer who spoke to the social outcasts of his day. I
believe his words still speak to the outcast of our day. "Whenever
the devil, or ignorant preachers, or superstitious books, make you
afraid and tempt you to fancy that God hates you, and watches to
catch you tripping, take refuge in that blessed Name and say 'Satan,
I defy thee; for the Almighty God of heaven is my Father.'" And to
Mr. Dover individually, I would say: leave the Church (I don't blame
you)... but don't leave God.
Tommy
McGlothlin
All Saints Church
Tupelo, Mississippi, USA
sthbear@bellsouth.net
12 November 2004
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