LETTER: Can forum resolve issues?

Editor,

I am curious if the opinion forum can ever prove to resolve any issue. For example, can the issue of gay-marriage be reconciled in the forum? Can a secular paper properly discuss these ideas fairly when the heart of the debate is a moral issue? Can you say that homosexuality is not wrong?

In the face of these questions, it is easy to call to attention the shame that religion has brought upon itself with all the bloodshed that has been done in the name of God. It is easy to say that religion cannot be the answer. The truth of the matter is that religious ties will always exist underneath secular issues. If you erase the line between right and wrong, no one will be able to tell the difference. Religion is the moral reinforcement of common sense. It teaches right and wrong, and then goes the extra mile.

Laws that are built upon the principles of right and wrong will edify our society and bless us. Laws that ignore these simple precepts will promote wrongdoing. The polarized sins of murder and malevolency are easily shunned for the immediate obvious consequences. Sins whose effects are not felt for some time will be embraced for the immediate reward, and bitterly regretted when it’s time to pay the piper. Unfortunately, the trend in America is a downward one.

Our society does not realize that most of its problems can be solved by following the teachings of most major religions. So we chase phantom problems with phantom solutions, all the while continuing to bleed from the same wound. I rejoice in my religion. If another does not choose it, I rejoice when he acts well his part. We can’t pretend that God isn’t there, and that there is no right and wrong beyond the law. Congress can’t define right and wrong; it’s impossible with their vocabulary. I urge all of us act well our part – whatever it may be. Go to the Mosque on Friday. Observe Passover. Pay your tithing. Read your scriptures. If you’re atheist, well … don’t be.

Chris Rogers