To the editor:

I am interested in the letter Sen. Kay O’Connor sent to a gay constituent regarding her position in favor of banning gay marriage (Journal-World, March 10). I would like to ask the following questions:

1. Please give one specific historical example of a state or nation that has seen “its own demise” because it gave in to the “homosexual lifestyle.”

2. Please explain exactly what “Judeo-Christian” principles this nation was founded on that are exclusive to the Judeo-Christian tradition. Many religious traditions would support principles such as democracy and justice on which this country was founded. It is a leap to conclude that we should adopt all “Judeo-Christian” so-called principles because our country was founded on some of them.

3. Given that there are many facets of the “Judeo-Christian” tradition ranging from religious fundamentalism to liberalism, please clarify which facet you are referring to when you argue that homosexuality is against the tradition on which this country was founded. Many of our founding fathers in fact held a liberal Christian faith: John Adams (Unitarian whose family crypt lies in the basement of a Unitarian Church), Benjamin Rush (outspoken Universalist who led the Philadelphia Universalist Convention), and Thomas Jefferson (deist of Unitarian sympathies who fashioned his own Bible by cutting up pages and rearranging passages) come to mind immediately.

4. Arson is a behavior that we should outlaw because it harms others. Please clarify how homosexual behavior between two consenting adults harms others.

Julie Fitzer,

Lawrence