Love Is Love, Gay Or Not Letter Of The Week From Jan. 14

I have read with interest and pain recent letters to the editor regarding homosexuality. No letter will cool this ongoing hot button but I can shed light for people who view homosexuality from a fundamentalist or conservative Christian perspective.

I spent several years involved in a Bible-type church that sincerely tries to apply its scriptural interpretation to moral issues, facing the issues head on - an admirable task. Many churches shy away from exploring difficult issues. Still, as a young man who spent years trying in faith to adhere to this church’s sincere teachings about homosexuality, I eventually left.

Judgmental attitudes do not foster an atmosphere of honesty or spiritual growth.

Our differences about the rightness and wrongness of homosexual activity will never be resolved by Bible verses. When we use Scripture to justify hatred and exclusion, we are misusing it.

God calls us to seek honesty, integrity, openness and authenticity. At the center of human nature are the strong desires to be loved, known and understood.

Many people around us are gay - co-workers, friends, even members of our own family. We may hold our own beliefs regarding the morality of homosexual activity, but stereotypes and fear will not bring us closer to God, each other or the truth. Such attitudes only widen the chasm between us.

Open your heart. Open your life. Open yourself. Someday, you will face yourself and ask, who have I loved? This is the ultimate question. It is the heart of life and the question that Jesus calls us to answer - and act upon. Samuel Francis Spokane

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