Letter: Faiths That Do Harm Don’t Deserve Our ‘Tolerance’
Fredericksburg
Free Lance-Star, July 13, 2003
P. O. Box 617, Fredericksburg, VA 22401
Fax: 703-373-8450
Email: letters@freelancestar.com
It appears to me that Whitney Miller thinks Thomas
Johnson is intolerant of religion [“In gay-rights debate, it’s intolerant
to bash faith’s defenders,” July 8]. Now stop and think. Do we really want
to be tolerant of irrational religious beliefs, especially when these beliefs
cause the oppression, suffering, and death of a whole group of citizens? No
one has the right to a belief that is detrimental to the well-being of another
human being.
Sadly, the foremost source of gay-hating is irrational
religion. Science and medicine have determined that sexual orientation is a
given—that is, part of who you are. It is not a sickness and it is not a
choice. As always, we are waiting for religion to catch up with science and
medicine. Getting religious people to read information that challenges their
prejudices is a formidable task.
The Supreme Court recently ruled that gays deserve to be
treated with the same dignity and respect as heterosexuals. They said the
court was wrong in its 1986 Bowers v.
Hardwick decision and apologized. I can only hope to live long enough
for a similar apology from our churches.
To Mr. Johnson and others who find themselves alienated
from religion over the issue of homosexuality, don’t worry: There is no one
true path to God. God is much more beautiful, majestic, mysterious, and
wonderful than a set of simple rules.
—Cris F. Elkins, Stafford
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