To the Editor:

Jerry Netolicky and others like him think people who support gay rights are at odds with God rather than just with the Religious Right. They back up their bigotry with quotes from the Bible, but only quotes that are short and taken out of context. By quoting more than just a few words we can see what the Bible actually says in clear perspective.

We have to remember that the Bible has been used to justify slavery, quoting Ephesians 6:5 (“Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling.”) and to relegate women to second-class status, quoting I Corinthians 14:34 (“Women should be silent in churches. For they are not permitted to speak, but be subordinate.”).

A close reading of the Bible will show you that God did not destroy Sodom and Gomorrah because of homosexuality. Ezekiel 16:49-50 says, “Your sister Sodom’s sins were pride and laziness and too much food, while the poor and needy suffered outside her door.” The prophet Isaiah claimed that Sodom was destroyed for lack of doing justice (Isaiah 1:10, 3:9). Jeremiah accused the Sodomites of adultery, lying and the unwillingness to repent (Jeremiah 23:14). What has any of that to do with being gay?

The Religious Right quotes from Leviticus, but ignores the taboos in the same book against divorce, shellfish and pork. Are only certain Bible passages worth following? Do they think we should kill our children when they misbehave as Leviticus tells us to do? Do they believe the world is flat, as Isaiah 11:12 says?

Christianity is not a danger to gays and lesbians – only its misrepresentation.

Scott Miller

St. Louis, MO