Letters to the Editor
nightcap
Published Letters: 3
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Who Are You?
[Read the article: I'm a bisexual Christian husband and father]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]With respect to the estimable Mr. Tennis, I'm afraid I don't quite agree with his note. The root of the problem, as I see it, is one of identity. You see yourself as a Christian, a husband, and a father, likely in that order. Now you find in yourself an attraction to members of the same gender, and it disturbs you. It needn't, for three reasons:
First, you're not bisexual, you're human. Human sexuality is a bell curve distribution; most people, absent social and religious pressures, have some ability to form loving relationships with persons of their own gender. This doesn't mean anything.
Second, as a Christian, you deal with the guilt of being a sinner. This can lead to obsession; the forbidden fruit is always the sweetest (no pun intended). A better way of dealing with temptations of this sort was given to me by a wise and saintly old monk. When I went to him distressed that my hormones and attractive other people in church distracted me from concentrating on my prayers, he confessed having the same problem. What did he do? "I thank God for beauty," he said, "and go on with my praying." There are sweet young men and distinguished older ones and lovely women, too? Don't deny it, thank God!
Third, none of this matters. "Bisexual" is not an identity, it's simply a statement about what floats one's boat. I don't know who you are, but I can tell you who I am: I am a man who loves another person so much that we gathered our relatives and friends together in a church and promised that I would love her as long as we both lived. My happiness depends upon hers. It's not always easy; nothing worth having ever is. But it's who I am. She is the only one who knows the real me, warts and all. With her, I am my true self, and she challenges me to be the best true self I can be. I hope I return the favor. The world is full of beautiful and desirable men and women, but there is only one that I'm married to. And that's who I am. I'm a married man.
Hope you find this helpful.
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I don't ask for much...
[Read the article: Can't Darwin and God get along?]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Just one little fact. "I believe in God" tells me a fact about the speaker, not about the existence of God. Darwin gave me facts and verifiable theories based on those facts. Giberson gives me nothing but his own fervent desire to believe in the unverifiable.
I've studied the Scriptures. I've read inspirational literature. I've been a faithful church member for most of my life. I desperately wish that God exists. But there are no facts. And in the end, I come to the sad conclusion that wishing doesn't make it so.
I've heard enough empty, self-important preaching about how sophisticated and mature your faith is. Just give me one single fact.
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I See Dark and Foreboding Things...
[Read the article: Obama by a nose]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I'm not so sure. I've carefully examined sheep's entrails, and predict that Palin will be devoured by a grey wolf, or perhaps the Republican Party - the auguries are inconclusive. The tea leaves at the bottom of the cup distinctly show the pattern of a Grim...
I don't mind this stuff in Harry Potter novels, but can we please leave this mindless superstition in children's fiction where it belongs?