Christian Examiner — Letters to the Editor

Letters to the Editor
More thoughts about Proposition 8 Your recent article “Is 8 Enough?” (December 2008) was great. The headline caught my eye and I read most of it and I’m only 14. I don’t think most 14-year-old boys read the newspaper. This article is what Americans need to read. When Prop. 8 passed, it was a glorious thing, but people still protest against it. People need to know this is America and America is a democracy. If something is voted on and it passes or is rejected, then leave it alone. You don’t see large groups of Republicans running amuck because Obama will be president. They let it go and get on with their lives. Yes on Prop. 8 supporters shouldn’t be yelling in the streets either, but there isn’t anything wrong with celebrating. Thank you to Lori Arnold, the writer, and the Keeners, the publishers. From now on I’m going to read the Christian Examiner when and whereever I get the chance. The Get This brief on the front page was great, too. It was about Santa and a godless society. Thank you for this article and reading this letter. Barrett Laughter San Diego, Calif. I feel some of the credit for the passage of Prop. 8 goes to the Christian Examiner and its work in providing both the facts of the issue and the progress of the campaign. I would like to think that every one who attends church is reading your paper. Lori Arnold’s piece, “Proposition 8: Separating fiction from fact” was your paper at its best. Thank you and well done! Christians must be clear on this issue: As far as liberals are concerned, same-sex marriage has nothing to do with same-sex marriage. It is about silencing the church. If the culture war were a football game, defeating Prop. 8 would not be the touchdown for them; it would be the 50-yard line. Removing the church from the arena of ideas would have been the touchdown. Liberals, who declare themselves the guarantors of First Amendment rights, have long sought for the legal means to deny the church those same rights. They so eagerly seek dominance in the arena of ideas, were it not for those pesky religious Bible believers always getting in their way. Had Prop. 8 been defeated, the state would possess the power to legally demand that the church compromise the Word of God, or face dire consequences. Pastors could be imprisoned, church treasuries would be drained from legal costs and fines, and the church as a whole would suffer incessant ridicule. Even within the four walls of our sanctuaries we would be restricted on what was taught and explained. The liberals would have absolute reign over all public debate, unopposed by any who dare stand for God’s statutes. We who know well the urgency to contend for the faith must remain vigilant. The age of “armchair Christianity” has long past. We must endeavor to know what we believe and be diligent in our defense of the gospel. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. (Proverbs 14: 34) The Rev. Mike Allred Glen Avon Community Church Riverside, Calif. I read with sadness your article about how you feel that your right to religious freedom is being eroded and cited so many cases in which religious members offered public services, or had licensed business and wanted to use their business license to discriminate. Simply put, if you are doing business in the public sector, you can no longer deny services on the basis of race, age, ability, sexual orientation and other innocent traits. You can practice your religious bias when you are not using your public-sponsored business license, or public property, or public grants. Isn’t that enough? You see, all of hard medical scientific papers published and recorded in the Library of Congress reveal research that confirms that homosexuality is an innocent trait. The American Psychiatric Association has confirmed that sexual orientation is natural, biologically induced, morally neutral, immutable, neither contagious nor learned, and has no relation to an individual’s ability to form deep and lasting relationships, to parent children, to work, or to contribute to society. The American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association have all endorsed civil marriage for same-sex couples because marriage strengthens the mental and physical health and the longevity of couples, and provides greater legal and financial security for children, parents and seniors. These are not lefty organizations. When America’s premier child and mental health associations and their expert panels endorse marriage equality, there is thus no ethical reason to discriminate against gay people and their children. Kate O’Hanlan, M.D. Portola Valley, Calif. Editor’s note: There is widespread research and evidence that contradicts the “born-that-way” theory. Among the critics of that movement is Dr. Robert Spitzer, who in 1973 led the taskforce that removed homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual. After further research, Spitzer now challenges the official APA views on homosexuality. For a list of resources challenging commonly held beliefs in the psychiatric community about homosexuality, visit www.narth.com/menus/born.html.		I was at a restaurant a few days ago and came across your publication. After reading many of the articles I feel compelled to write this and wonder if you will allow me the same religious expression as your publication’s contributors by publishing my thoughts on Prop. 8 and the separation of church and state...Will you give me equal time? There is no religious freedom in America when any religious group can impose their dogma on any person that disagrees with that dogma. It is important that all Americans realize that their country is NOT, and never was intended to be, a Christian nation ... let alone a religious nation. Whether the above conclusions are supported or not, to believe otherwise is un-American; and, those that are so uninformed, whatever else they may be, they are not American patriots. The teaching of the Constitution and all its implied freedoms should be, and is not, one of the most important functions of all American public schools. Religious zealotry by well-intentioned persons, that are badly misled by their anthropic-religious leaders, who often speak directly with a god, is the greatest, unnatural threat to wellbeing in the world today. Certainly, no religious organization should be intolerant and mean-spirited toward others that live by the Golden Rule. Isn’t it amazing how many persons think that their religion is the only true religion; yet the origins of most every religion is from relatively modern ideas from persons that have lived for only a small proportion of anthropic existence. Carolyn Fitz-Gibbon, Newport Beach, Calif. You are shameless in your distortions and lies. Obviously if same-sex marriage were still legal there would be idiots pushing their point of view against parent’s wishes. That will always happen, but they are isolated incidents. I’m sure the author of this article was aware that the children who went to the same-sex wedding in San Francisco all had parental consent, and two children didn’t go because their parents didn’t allow it. Also, protectmarriage.com used unauthorized images of the children at that wedding, and in fact exploited the children against their parent’s wishes. I’m also sure you know the New Jersey Church mentioned losing part of its tax exemption refused to allow the lesbians a wedding on a tax-payer funded part of their church. It is similar to what goes on in San Diego where the Boy Scouts have a $1 a year lease on city property and refuse admittance to atheists or homosexuals. I’m also fairly certain that Prop. 8 will be overturned by the Supreme Court. A society is threatened when 52.3 percent of the voters can eliminate a minority right. Prop. 8 was not so much about marriage but a rejection of homosexual people. You are certainly allowed your opinion, but when you lie and omit information pertinent to the situation you do a lot of damage. “The Truth Will Set You Free”—surprising this wonderful statement is credited to Jesus Christ. Pat Wright La Mesa, Calif. Editor’s note: The first-grade field trip clearly demonstrated the point Prop. 8 supporters were saying, legalizing same-sex marriage would lead to in-school indoctrination—at taxpayer expense. The photograph of the children was taken on the steps of City Hall, which is public property. Courts have held that photos in such settings are not deemed private. The focus of Proposition 8 was to protect traditional marriage, not to be punitive against homosexuals. Gay and lesbian couples in California still retain all of the same legal rights as heterosexuals through the state’s domestic partnership registry. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I am appalled at the treatment that my church has received at the hands of radical homosexual groups. Unfortunately, the homosexual movement has also targeted other churches and Christian groups that supported the amendment to the California Constitution known as Proposition 8. Now that conservatives are back in the wilderness, now is the time for all conservative Christians to unite beyond denominational and theological distinctions to defend our right to speak out on important moral issues. With liberal Democrats within one seat away from a filibuster-proof majority and a radical in the White House, our First Amendment rights are in jeopardy! With the implementation of the “Fairness Doctrine,” religious broadcasting is threatened! The gains of the pro-life movement could be overturned and we are one Supreme Court Justice away from having an anti-Life, anti-free speech, anti-traditional values majority in the nations highest court. This is a call to unity among all of those who believe that our nation was founded as a Christian nation conceived in liberty. We need a new Moral Majority that is not sectarian! It is time to look past our differences in doctrine and theology. If we do not stand as one, we could be looking in the future when a letter like this is deemed a “hate crime” and the author is thrown in prison in our new Orwellian moment of “change and unity” under Obama. May we never come to that moment. Robert Dunn Urbana Ill.