I’m a bigot, you’re a bigot … wouldn’t you like to be a bigot, too?

This is somewhat in response to the “Pay Attention” letter in the Nov. 19 opinion section. I fail to understand why feeling that certain things are immoral makes you a bigot. The greatest commandment in the Bible is to love the Lord with all your might — the second greatest is to love your neighbor as yourself.

I know many wonderful people, both gay and straight. Their lifestyles (or the way they’re born) should not affect the way we treat one another in a general sense. People are born with weaknesses — we all have our own. Was it Jeffrey Dahmer that liked to kill and eat people?

It is possible to love the sinner but not the sin. Yes, I, as many others, believe homosexuality is a sin, just as murder is. Since Jeff had these tendencies, does that mean it’s OK? Do we have to support him in his lifestyle?

I put forth the notion that we can love him, but not what he did. A good parent is the perfect example of this unconditional love, but they’re able to tell their child what they did was wrong.

If you want to take the route that God made you that way, fine, but you must also accept (if you believe in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) that homosexuality is not in accordance with living a Christ-like life.

Many Christians view our time on Earth as a testing ground. We will each have desires to sin at times in our own individual way. It is selfish to seek nothing but your own desires, from a Christian viewpoint, anyway. It is not easy, but we must do as Christ said and go forth and sin no more.

No, the people are not evil, nor are they horrible. That doesn’t change the fact that homosexuality is wrong and I won’t support it. I love a relative that I consider an alcoholic. I can serve him without buying him beer. I love my cousin who is a stripper. I abhor her profession, but would help her in any other way.

Get the picture? God loves you no matter who you are or what you do; however, he will not look upon sin (notice I didn’t say sinner) with the least degree of allowance. We can justify our actions until we’re blue in the face, but that won’t make an iota of difference when the chips are on the table and we are judged.

Try weighing a lifetime of fulfilling unrighteous desires versus an eternity in heaven. Which one do you really want?

Norm Atwood

Senior

Electrical engineering