Editor:
Following the Sandy Hook Elementary School gun massacre in Connecticut, political pundits and the populace engaged in a civil discussion about gun control, the American gun culture, the Second Amendment and the proper role of Congress and the states to alleviate (or eliminate) gun violence. A different culture war is exploding at Santa Monica High School, a conflicting battle centering on the dynamics of truth, religion and homosexuality.
First, I condemn the scurrilous slanders of the Westboro protesters ("Samohi community rallies against anti-gay group," Feb. 26, page 1). "God hates fags" or "God hates you" is contrary to the gospel recorded in the Bible: "For God so loved the world ..." is followed by "The goodness of God leadeth to repentance." However "Jesus had two Dads" is wrong, a statement which does not justify homosexual conduct. The Westboro protesters are wrong, but so are the counter-protesters.
Homosexuality is a choice, and a bad one. Even L.A. Weekly, in no way a conservative or religious publication, highlighted the high incidence of dysfunction, disease and death associated with "the gay lifestyle." Ancient Greek historians recorded the dissolution of entire cities because of the breakdown of healthy, heterosexual relations.
The Westboro spokesman is right when he says that the Bible condemns homosexual conduct. The counter-protestors rightly reject that God is a hateful deity seeking to punish us. In truth, God's grace and truth are two sides of the same blessed coin. God loves sinners, but he hates the sin. His grace transforms people from engaging in a harmful lifestyle to living in glory.
Arthur Christopher Schaper
Torrance, Calif.
