THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, October 12, 1994 TAG: 9410120006
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A12 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letter
LENGTH: Medium: 53 lines
It's unfortunate that Bishop Walter F. Sullivan of the Richmond Diocese renounced his own Roman Catholic Church's views on homosexuality.
God does not cause people to sin, which would be the case if God ``made'' homosexuals. Claiming that homosexuality is not a sin directly contradicts the Bible to which Bishop Sullivan has dedicated his life.
Discrimination against homosexuals is unfortunate, but part of that is due to people like Bishop Sullivan. As long as homosexuals are portrayed as blameless for their sins, their cries of discrimination will fall on deaf ears.
I am a heterosexual (God made me that way) who has sinned, yet I am not faultless. I am a sinner responsible for my actions. I know there are homosexuals who share this belief, and they have suffered injustice.
Society will continue to reject homosexuals if homosexuality is presented as an acceptable, ``alternative'' lifestyle.
Our bodies are heterosexual by design. Other uses are forgivable but not acceptable.
JOHN S. LIN
Virginia Beach, Oct. 5, 1994
Bishop Sullivan's remarks reflect a clergyperson gone off the deep end in his thinking.
His rationalization for calling homosexuality a ``no-fault'' condition is that people are born that way. It would be more appropriate if he were to call for medical research into the causes of homosexuality rather than simply promoting acceptance of a lifestyle on the basis of ``That's just the way they are.''
Or is his rationale really a cover to make the church reflect what the gurus of the cultural elite want our society to be? Do we change the rule book to accommodate moral relativism, or is the Bible the guiding light of the Judeo-Christian faith?
WILLIAM F. NIMMO
Virginia Beach, Oct. 6, 1994
Is God a liar? That is what Bishop Sullivan is calling him.
God said in both the Old and New Testaments that homosexuality is detestable. If he ``made'' a person gay or lesbian, then God lied. And if God lied about homosexuality, what else did he lie about?
I think that the clergy should really consider what they are telling people when they say God ``made'' gay people. Why would he make something he detests?
GERALD BARTON
Norfolk, Oct. 5, 1994 by CNB