Pastors urged to take stand

To the editor:

I would like to take the opportunity to publicly thank those Pastors who collectively issued a statement to the editor in Thursday's Commercial Review not endorsing the performance Saturday sponsored PRISM/GSA at Arts Place.  Suffice it to say that I am personally opposed to the performance and any groups or activities which may be related to or arise from it.  My reasons have been stated in previous letters written by others, and it would be redundant and a waste of my and your time to re-state them. 

I would, however, like to use this opportunity to assert my frustration that more of our local religious leaders have not taken a stand on this matter. It concerns me when I see our political leaders "riding the fence" on certain matters. They, in my humble opinion, are usually fretful about taking a stand at the risk of losing all-important votes.

That being said, what troubles me even more is when I see local pastors choosing not to get involved in a matter such as this. Some choose to not be for it, but not be against it either as the case may be. According to Matthew 18:15-17, it is our job as Christians, and dare I say, it is your job in particular as a religious leader in your community, to denounce sin.  Personally, the Bible tells me that homosexuality is a sin. 

I understand some have tried to make arguments otherwise, which based on my understanding of the Bible, I consider to be without merit. 

I look all around, and frankly I don't have to look far, to see a society whose moral values have been flushed down the toilet.  As a society we are plagued with ill morals. Now a group wants to introduce the "gay lifestyle" into our local society and our schools?  I fully understand and do not wish to deny the rights afforded this group of U.S. Citizens under the Constitution and Bill of Rights to have their program. 

However, I also want to see those in leadership roles exercise the rights given them to speak out against this atrocity. I implore this community to start calling a spade a spade. We cannot continue to live in a society where we choose to turn a blind eye in favor of not offending someone or some group, worse yet, in favor of political correctness. We must return to the Christian values on which this country was founded in order that we may preserve the work of those who have gone before us. 

It is your job as religious leaders in our community to do this, and it cannot be done by choosing to not take issue on this matter. Sure, there may be those in your congregations who may have objections to your taking a stand. Regarding these, it is your responsibility to teach and explain in Biblical relevance why you have taken your stand. Do your job well, God will do his, and they will understand.

I am so troubled when I analyze the direction of our country and our society. Immorality runs rampant, from the poorest people to the richest, and all the way through the halls of Congress. It starts and stops with each of us, and how we live our lives. 

I once heard that it is human nature to follow, and I believe that.  Many people are yearning for someone to lead them. As a religious leader in our community you have a great opportunity to lead. Please don't let the opportunity pass you by. 

Chad M. and Rebecca J. LeMaster

Portland

Accepting

To the editor:

I love Portland and spent most of my formative years there. It was a safe place, a place where I had opportunities to explore my various interests all the while remaining relatively sheltered from some of the parts of life that when experienced too soon have the potential to rob a person of her childhood. After I went away to college and then on to live in a city, I appreciated this upbringing even more.

That being said, I realized later that the nurturing environment I experienced may not have been the reality for all of my classmates. I didn't know much about sexual orientation issues until I went to college, and yet, they are very prevalent in the world, whether they're talked about or not.

There were only a couple of out homosexual couples when I was in high school, and most students either made jokes about them or didn't really know what to think as it was such a foreign concept. I can only imagine how it must have felt for those students to go about their days unsure about how they'd be treated because of whom they were naturally attracted to. I also can't imagine what it must have been like for students who knew their orientation was something other than heterosexual but were too scared or confused to be true to themselves, having to sort through all of those complicated emotions on their own. Figuring out who you are is hard enough, let alone having to worry that who you are won't be respected.

Since high school, I've met and befriended several people who have sexual orientations other than mine, and I feel my life is richer for it. Whether or not one believes a sexual orientation other than heterosexual is a sin, behind every sexual orientation there is a person, and every person deserves love and an opportunity to walk through his life without being discriminated against.

I was so encouraged and proud to hear that a group was formed at Jay County High School that works to gain respect for peoples of all sexual orientations. Their mission statement says they "welcome all gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, transgenders, questioning, and straight youth to discuss anything concerning them." And that they aim to "create a safe, loving, accepting environment, through meeting in and out of school," as well as "to educate the community about sexual orientation issues." According to that statement, their agenda is not to promote other sexual orientations. Rather, it's to provide a safe community for people regardless of sexual orientation and to educate the public so that people of all sexual orientations are able to exist without fear of being discriminated against or physically harmed. It's always beneficial to try to understand where another person is coming from because it is in that act that we have the opportunity to eliminate ignorance, and thus, fear and hate.

Part of a community's responsibility to its youth is to prepare them to be citizens of the world. By educating ourselves about other people's life experience, we can better define our own beliefs as well as become adults who are better informed on the world at large.

We don't each have to accept all sexual orientations, but we can all respect the right of another person to be or think differently than we do. I applaud Arts Place for hosting a fundraiser for Prism/Gay-Straight Alliance last weekend, featuring Ray Boltz and Peter Toscano. It seems like an excellent way to learn more about sexual orientation issues and, to me, is evidence that Portland truly is "a place to grow."

Sincerely,

Kathryn C. Gilbert

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