Perry Paulding’s message in Friday’s Daily is clear in its intent: to demean queers by grouping them with pedophiles and bestialists.

Previous letters by Pastor Perry Paulding (who has recently led a revamp of the Stonebrook Community Church) pursue other lines of argument, all of which eventually pander to what he calls the “moral depravity” of our fine nation.

Their message is not too important. If he had anything new or evocative to say, he would be able to do it in a much stronger medium with a much wider audience than the ISU Daily.

As it stands, this guy’s greatest talent is perpetuating dogma in our campus newspaper that the religious right has used unsuccessfully for ages.

I think it’s fitting that the Daily is the only paper that will print his religious regurgitation.

Whatever the perceived moral motives of Pastor Perry, he pushes pedantic pontification, and he’s making a stigmatized mockery of Christianity as a belief system.

His moralizing has found a happy home in the ISU Daily letters column only because it stirs up a lot of debate.

He’s no different than Fred Phelps in that regard.

For god’s sake, these people are lunatics. They push their message in the pursuit of a specific breed of Christian glory fostered by their own particular, arrogant, exclusive belief system.

Ev Cherrington (the preachy-sock Hub guy), Tim Dorseth (Ev’s crony) and Pastor Perry Paulding all belong to the same church. They sponsored evangelist Tom Short.

They supported Fred Phelps when he picketed last year’s spring graduation ceremony.

Pastor Paulding’s church has just recently opened its doors. Consider this and the fact the “Stonebrook Community Church” has appeared several times under Pastor Perry Paulding’s name.

Consider that Perry Paulding’s message, despite its content, is a good way for a newly revamped church to get free advertising in the Daily.

Preaching is how Perry Paulding makes money in our fine democracy, where free speech is made profitable.

Considering this alongside his message, I ask you: do you, dear reader, think your moral character is strong enough to join Pastor Perry Paulding in his pursuit of glory and money?

If it is, please don’t hesitate to use the Daily’s newsprint to ground you in your advance. You must know the value of that.

If the Daily won’t print what you have to say, you can always go preach it in front of the Hub.

If you feel differently than that, then disregard this man. Disregard his thinly-veiled hatred and personal insecurities.

Disregard his pursuit of glory, recognize his arrogance and don’t allow him any power in the media or anywhere else in our school.

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Tom Van Waardhuizen

Junior

English