LETTER: Love the sinner, hate the sin

To the editor:

Jesus taught us that we should love the sinner and condemn the sin. With this in mind, I would like to discuss Mr. Blackham’s column on Wednesday. While I fully agree that homosexuals are deserving of just as much love and respect that one would accord any other human being (one of my friends in high school was openly gay), I must disagree with much of his column.

First, the issue of choice vs. born is irrelevant. As Ether 12:27 says “I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me…for if they humble themselves before me, then will I make weak things strong unto them”.

Homosexuality, as pointed out by the leaders of the LDS church, is simply a weakness that can and should be overcome. There was an article in the New York Times a few months ago discussing the success of many groups that offer help in this area. Having a weakness is no excuse for succumbing to it. Homosexuality is a sin- Mr. Blackham fails to understand the importance of revelation, and the transition between the Mosaic, or lower law, and the higher law as revealed by Christ. Shrimp (and all else that was “unclean”) was allowed to be eaten when revelation was given to Peter (Acts 10), and child disobedience is still a sin (Ephesians 6). If we were to follow Mr. Blackham’s logic, one would conclude that other forbidden sexual perversions, such as bestiality and incest, which are also prohibited in Leviticus, are moral, since they are not explicitly condemned in the New Testament. This view has been continually supported by LDS church leaders, along with the belief that marriage is ordained of God and is supposed to be between a man and a woman – see The Proclamation on the Family.

As for feeling uncomfortable- I have no problem being around someone who is homosexual. However, the light of Christ will testify of sin, and seeing homosexual acts of affection, because of their sinful nature, should make righteous people uncomfortable.

Peter Griffin