Loving thy neighbor can be hard

One of my favorite church songs is "They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Love."

Accordingly, I was dismayed to read a letter written by a Christian pastor who called our president a "moron" who didn't read the Bible — not a loving comment. The good pastor went on to express his opposition to same-sex marriage by citing the president's "unopened Bible" as defining marriage as between a man and a woman.

Apparently, the pastor is unaware that claiming biblical authority to substantiate his views puts him on shaky ground. The Bible has been used in the past to justify slavery and segregation. It was cited to deny women the vote and to prevent interracial marriage. However, as time passed more charitable views prevailed and overcame the biblical interpretations used to support prejudicial and biased opinions. The same is happening now with regard to same-sex marriage.

Though I don't pretend to be a biblical scholar, I do know that the Bible says that Jesus told us to love our neighbors. This is a difficult command to obey. It's hard for me, for people in general, and even for some ordained Christian clergy.

MICHAEL A. CLARKE

Salida