Dr. Throckmorton then went

to great lengths to ridicule Howard Dean's personal theology. Why

would he attack a man's personal theology? Mr. Dean wasn't giving

a speech or writing an open letter to the public but merely stating his

view of homosexuality in response to a reporter's question.

Therefore, I'm left with

only two reasons for why Dr. Throckmorton wrote the column. The first

was to discredit Howard Dean because he openly criticizes President Bush

at all levels.

However, I believe the main

reason was a veiled attempt to have us believe that the Bible shows that

God really does not like gay people and is ready to punch their first-class

tickets to hell.

I suppose if you believe that

to be Scriptural truth, then in the minds of well-meaning Christians,

it might justify their un-Christian behavior.

In this country, you have every

legal right to keep those you don't like out of your church (I will

leave the moral issue between you and God). However, you don't have

the legal right to deny them equal rights under the law and that is where

all of this is going.

Anybody that is a student of

history of this great country knows that America eventually "gets

it right." It will be a heated and sometimes ugly process, but we

know how to correct ourselves. We have the freedom of speech that ultimately

shines the light of truth on all things. You can count on equal rights

under the law for our gay and lesbian citizens before the end of this

decade.

I know that thought causes

many to cringe. The thought of equal rights for our African-American citizens

did the same thing to racists some 40 years ago. It is just old-fashioned

prejudice raising its ugly head. There is no need to worry because we

can all overcome prejudice.

At the end of the article,

Dr. Throckmorton comes to the opposite conclusion than Howard Dean, "Apparently

then God does not make people gay." It is strange that he becomes

such an expert since no one has been able to prove or disprove that homosexuality

is genetic.

The sad fact is that religious

prejudice will always trump emerging science that is contrary to the Bible.

Let us not forget that the church imprisoned and almost executed Galileo

for claiming that his studies led him to the conclusion that the earth

was not the center of the universe. The church leaders attacked his credibility

in fact the center of the universe. Who still believes that to be true?

In the end, I think the real

question that would be the litmus test for all of us would be: If God

himself told you that he created some of his children straight and some

gay for His own reasons, would that really change how you feel and treat

homosexuals? Unfortunately for our family, which includes a gay son, I

think I know the real answer.

Jeff Ellis

www.familyacceptace.com