To the Editor:

Well, Martin, you really got your Old Testament Prophet on in last week’s Editorial. Your reporting on the Gay Pride event was flawless, and I commend you. Your editorial opinion was as anathema-cursing, bush-burning, and sinner-smoting an event as any in the Hebraic Scriptures. It didn’t sound much like Christ in the New Testament, but it can be hard to get all wound up about Love and Acceptance.

Some people struggle with the fact that not all of God’s creatures think as they do or share all their beliefs or life experiences. Not all Catholics are “Inquisition Catholics,” miserable unless somebody somewhere is being persecuted for a belief they don’t share. Not all Christians consider “Judaeo-Christian” origins to conjure up the relentlessly demanding and avenging God of which you are so enamored.

You skewed the true meaning of diversity, equity, and inclusion to accommodate your biases. You accused the LGBTQ community of “aggression among the young, and closely tied to pornography, determined to infect public libraries and schools.” That’s the phony dog whistle that the far-right uses to devalue and degrade members of that community, who were also created by God, and impose their own supposedly “Christian” reality.

My theological training taught that Christ came to fulfill the Law and the Prophets, to bring the “good news” of his message of Love over Law. God created all kinds of people and, if some of them offend you or make you feel “uncomfortable,” you can avoid extended time among them or their performances. But a true Christian is obliged, at the very least, to “Do to others as you would have them do to you,” Luke 6:31, etc., and trust that the Almighty is competent to judge his creation at the appropriate time, and without your assistance.

The Gay Pride event was held in the afternoon at the Community Center, and not sponsored by the District or the City. No one, including students, was forced to attend. If your child did attend, he or she chose to, and you might ask what he or she thought of it. One or two council members should attend every significant community event.
In addition to his screed against anyone who doesn’t think as he does, Martin observed that parents are the “primary authority over their children!” So, parents, do your job and let the other parents do theirs.
Kelly Scoles,
Fillmore, Ca.