To the editor:

Two letters in Saturday’s paper convey what I suspect is the position of many who are working to amend the Kansas Constitution to specifically ban marriages of other-than-heterosexual couples. It is not that they hate homosexuals, these writers tell us, but rather their religion teaches them that same-sex marriage is sinful and they are just trying to do the right thing.

I believe them, and I respect anyone who takes action to stand up for what is right. But it is easy to find many things happening that more clearly contradict the moral guidance of the Bible, particularly the teachings of Jesus. For example, right now, one of every six children in Kansas is growing up in poverty (“whatever you do onto the least…”); we are seeing increasing evidence that our government uses torture in interrogations (“do onto others…”); last year the United States could have ended hunger in the world with the money it spent on the military in just 14 days (“I was hungry and you gave me to eat…”; “thou shalt not kill”); news stories regularly reveal incidents of the Bush administration deceiving us citizens (“thou shalt not lie”).

The list of violations of basic Christian (and others’) morality goes on and on. So, why is it that, among all of these things, the one that these writers find the most morally repugnant and worthy of their energy is gay marriage?

Joey Sprague,

Lawrence