Dear Editor,
I refer to the letter by Hydar Ally (SN, July 31) captioned ‘Being gay is not a crime.’
Stabroek News’ caption is immediately seen to be unfortunate and irresponsible, representing one of the few times when the Editor actually uses words from contributors’ letters as a caption (and in every such case only when it visibly connotes or helps to promote a pro-gay argument).
By this time tomorrow, there will be a letter to the press advising that the “Hydar Ally” who composed the letter to Stabroek News was not the Hydar Ally we all know, if only because of his loose usage and application of the actual words the Pope used.
We all await the official transcript/explanation from the Vatican. Initially, however, the Pope’s actual words were “If a person is gay and seeks God and has good will, who am I to judge?” in response to questions about the existence or non-existence of a “gay lobby” in the Vatican. Clearly the Pope was trying to make a careful distinction about handling political issues within the Vatican. He clearly states, “The problem is lobbying by this orientation …” since, obviously, such lobbying and activism inevitably excludes God and the Bible, tolerates no opposition, and invariably is bereft of ‘good will.’
So do these comments mean that the Pope endorses homosexuality and ‘transsexualism’? Definitely not! These are set up to destroy the fundamental creation-structures in Christianity ‒ manhood, womanhood, marriage, sex, family. How significant is this?
Does this mean that his comment will now be used and abused by the gay rights lobby? Absolutely! We addressed the possibilities in the online article ‘Alissa Trotz’s Abuse … and the Self Abuse … of Desmond Tutu on gay rights.’
The Pope, like many other Catholics, would be aware of the extremely destructive (personal and societal) forces at play in same-sex-attraction-disorders, and will of course clarify this later with due regard to the Bible, and the problems many Catholic priests have faced in the past with regard to molestation. It is in this context of deliberately confronting and addressing one’s faults, and changing our behaviours in repentance, we believe, that the Pope’s advocacy in that same interview that “… gay clergymen should be forgiven and their sins forgotten…” ought to be understood. It would be impossible to construe another meaning that the victims of the molestation cases would understand.
Yours faithfully,
Roger Williams
Editor’s note
SN often takes quotes from letters to use as captions.
