I have a question for Margie J. Phelps (“Group preaches out of love, not hate,” June 12): Why are you a Christian? For years I have been a Christian, yet I never knew God hated homosexuals. There are some things I hate, but I never knew we were allowed to hate homosexuals!

There is a story in the Bible about an adulterous woman. This woman committed a sin against God, her husband and herself by sleeping with someone she was not married to. When the townsfolk found out, they hunted her down, gathered around her with fistfuls of stones and prepared to hurl them at her until she died, as was customary at the time. But before these people were allowed to do so, a man named Jesus stepped in and stopped them. When questioned about his motives, Jesus replied, “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone.” Upon hearing this, the townfolk realized their error and let the woman be. They did this because they realized that everyone sins.

To me, the point of believing Jesus Christ died for my sins is because I know I am a sinner. In desperation and hope, I believe Jesus died to pay for my sins. Let me use an analogy. There was a young man from a small town in Iowa. A few months before he graduated from high school, he admitted to his parents, peers and community that he was homosexual. Upon hearing this, a crowd of people gathered signs and hateful speech, hunted him down and attacked this young man in the name of Jesus Christ.

Apparently, the people who had gathered to protest his graduation were perfect. Unlike the crowd in the Bible story, the people who had assembled were so perfect and sin-free they were righteous enough to cast their stones upon this young man.

Perhaps you can pick out the parallels between these two stories and that brings me back to my question: Why are you a Christian?

As a Christian, you should know we are all sinners. Yet you “stoned” this young man with hate, or love as you put it. You must feel pretty good to be “sin-free,” to take God’s place as judge and persecute a “dirty sinner.” You obviously do not need Jesus Christ or the sacrifice he made because you do not sin. Jesus did not die on a cross for you, why would he need to? Actions speak louder than words, however, and your actions and your words are quite clear. You hate homosexuals; God doesn’t.

Adam Bosman

Sophomore

Pre-journalism