Editor,
It appears that Kenneth Turner, in his letter published in the Daily Lobo on Monday, is making a popular but unwarranted statement in his response to the letter by Benjamin Sanchez. He says if someone expresses an opinion condemning homosexuality, that person must hate homosexuals.
The tone of Sanchez's letter was not in the least disrespectful or inflammatory, and its purpose was to reinforce the opinion held by many Americans that homosexuality is morally inferior to heterosexual practices. I have seen the same sentiments Turner articulated in dozens of responses to similar well-articulated expressions of moral concern. Those who are sympathetic to the homosexual lifestyle have become very good at using any and all dissent from their position to perpetuate the notion that they are under attack on all sides from those who visit hate upon them.
As a Christian, I do not believe that homosexuality is a morally acceptable lifestyle. Does that mean I'm looking for the first opportunity I have to visit a violent crime upon a homosexual? Absolutely not. Would I be justified in claiming that anyone who does not share my religious views is bent on my destruction?
Even Turner must conclude that such an overgeneralization is untenable. While I may oppose the homosexual agenda both morally and politically, I resent being lumped into the same category as those who perpetrate these terrible crimes against homosexual men and women. Turner and many of his friends need to understand the difference between a civil discussion of personal opinions and acts of violence by a very small minority of the opposing view.
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Jason Brown
UNM faculty
