Pastor Ogden, you are a hypocrite [“What's Next, Polygamy Benefits?” March 27 Xpress]. You and many other Christians are so quick to fervently oppose legalizing gay marriage without also expressing with equal zest your disgust with the legality of divorce, adultery, drunkenness, lying, sex out of wedlock, blasphemy and a multitude of other sins which are perfectly legal. And every time this challenge is issued to gay-marriage opponents, they ignore it. They don't even acknowledge it in most cases. And that is hypocrisy, plain and simple.
If you are going to use the argument that gay marriage should be illegal because it's forbidden by the Bible, then you have to stand on the same ground on every single other sin. No exceptions. The oft-stated contention that people aren't allowed to pick and choose which parts of the Bible they want to believe in and support doesn't just apply to other people; it applies the same to you as to them.
Additionally, if demanding adherence to the Bible forms the core of your argument, you are not entitled to use any of the other peripheral arguments about procreation, disruption of the social order, violation of the "sanctity" of marriage, etc. Every other such argument stands on that core belief and thus constitutes a straw man.
Your belief in your God does not give you the right to try and legislate the lives of everyone else. If you truly love America, and I assume you claim to, you accept that fact as a foundational tenet of the country, whether you like it or not — just like I accept that you have the right to freely worship God, no matter how repulsed your comments make me feel.
If you are not willing to sit astride your moral high horse on every sin, not just the ones you don't like, then please remove your voice from the argument. Otherwise you are cluttering up the discussion for the people who want to think rationally about it and understand that thanks to the First Amendment, we don't take our legislative cues from a religious text.
— Dave Baker
Asheville
Right On! Great and logical letter!
I find that when close minded and un-ethical folks have to enforce their beliefs on others that they’re ultimately unsure of their own beliefs.
“Misery Loves Company…”
radix