Keith Olbermann, on his MSNBC "Countdown" show on November 10, 2008, gave an impassioned comment on Proposition 8 in California and a defense of homosexuals, asking "What is it to you?" He cites Scripture saying, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." This writer has found Keith to be a person of integrity, morality, intelligence, courage and considerable wisdom. We agree with him on most issues. Like him, I am straight, and have no relatives or friends, that I know of, who are homosexual. We are both committed Democrats.

        But this issue is one on which we differ. Not wishing to judge, but rather to analyze our difference, I note that he lives in California, whereas I am a Tennessean. I don’t know what his religious beliefs are. I am an ordained Presbyterian deacon and former Adult Sunday School teacher in three different churches. He is a generation younger than I am, which would exacerbate the difference in our views. I don’t know what his educational background is. Mine is liberal arts, having attended law school, and having had the unique opportunity of growing up in 1^st Presbyterian Church, Bristol, Tennessee, where most of my many Sunday School teachers were PHD professors from King College, for whom we were the host church. Perhaps he has not paid as much attention as I have to the disproportionate number of homosexuals and pedophiles who have sought sanctuary in the ministry or priesthood. Since he is physically larger than I am (5' 9"), perhaps he has not been solicited by any of these despicable perverts, as I have. (They were not successful. I was not a victim, merely a witness)

        I do not question the right to privacy of any American citizen. Although I might passionately disagree with your views on many subjects, all Americans have the right to believe and practice whatever they want, in their own home. BUT YOUR RIGHTS STOP ONE INCH SHORT OF MY NOSE. In other words, I have rights too. You do not have the right to commit murder, against me or against anyone else, anywhere in our society, including your bedroom. You do not have the right to rape me, to rob me, to kidnap me, to commit perjury against me, or to seduce my children. Nor do you have the right to publicly advocate or commit sodomy, or any of these acts, which a consensus believes, as proven by the vote on Proposition 8, are crimes against society and sins against God. Note: I make no comment on homosexual orientation, having no way of knowing whether such is gratuitous or compulsive.. It was compromise to permit homosexual acts, i.e. sodomy, between consenting adults in the privacy of their own home. To go any further violates my rights.

        Mr Olbermann asks, "What is it to you?" The problem with homosexual practitioners, and with homosexual marriage, is that they insist on forcing their deviant life style down the throats of their neighbors. Their agenda is to justify their conduct, to force Christians of the straight society in which they live to change their value system and accept them. It is particularly egregious, in this regard, that queers have actually taken over Christian congregations, and even entire denominations, in violation of Holy Scripture, making a mockery of God’s Law, and of the Christian Faith, causing schism. So my answer to Mr Olbermann is that I have the right to bring up my children and grandchildren in the Faith Of Their Fathers without interference or threat from perverts. Gay marriage puts the official stamp of public approval on what I consider to be a mortal sin. In the 1940s, when I was a youth, the young adult son of a prominent, wealthy citizen of Bristol named Mahoney was caught abusing a boy my own age. I was told that he was tarred, feathered, and ridden out of town on a rail. The family moved to San Francisco. I am also told that this was the last incidence of tarring and feathering in Tennessee. Bill King, known to be a close friend of young Mahoney, and a member of my church, but who confined his alliances to consenting adults and never made a public statement about his sexual orientation, as far as I know, was never troubled. That is the way it should be. Any less and we become like Sodom. Any more and we become like Nazi Germany. But personally, I wish they would repent. The thought of what they do makes me want to puke. Finally, I should point out that the perversion of homosexuality is oxymoronic to the concepts of clan, family, ancestors and descendants. God commanded: "Be fruitful and multiply." That sounds like a plan.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

        On Friday, November 14, Mr. Olbermann posted a follow up editorial, accusing the "Religious Right" of promoting Proposition 8 in California and suggesting that they would reap what they had sown.  At about the same time, NPR (National Public Radio), supposedly funded by the public, broadcast a warm and fuzzy feature promoting the acceptability of sodomy.

        It is unfortunate that Mr. Olbermann and NPR have chosen to publicly support the fanatic extreme liberal left on the issue of the permissible limits of sodomy in our society.  It is true that The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints were prominent in the campaign for Proposition 8.  However, Mr Olbermann ignores the more than ONE BILLION CATHOLICS worldwide, following the announced position expressed by The Pope, who consider sodomy a mortal sin, and whose California voters were the decisive majority in that election.  Most other Protestant denominations have also broadly expressed the same view.  There is too much Scripture on the subject to do otherwise.

        My own denomination, The Presbyterian Church In The United States Of America (PCUSA), as is their tradition according to the Doctrine Of The Priesthood Of All Believers, convened a General Assembly, debated the issue and decided that public approval of Sodomy (coming out), for a number of reasons, was a disqualifying factor proscribing ordination as a minister of our Church.  Every Christian denomination has dealt with the issue in one way or another.  The only ones that I know of who have, in any way, condoned sodomy are The American Episcopal Church, led by homosexual Bishop Gene Robinson, and The Unitarian Church.  Clearly, the preponderance of sentiment among Christians worldwide, of all denominations, is to condemn the practice of sodomy as a mortal sin and a danger to our society.

        Mr. Olbermann has shown that he is not qualified to represent the Christian Community, or to speak for them.  As to his assigning me to the religious right, along with Jim Jones and his ilk, who was as far to the right as Olbermann is to the left, is not only incompetent and insulting, such a statement is irresponsible.  Mr. Olbermann enjoys a position allowing more influence than most of us enjoy.  He therefore has extraordinary responsibility to tell the truth, to be objective, and to present all sides of any contentious issue.  We are sorry that he has abrogated his responsibility.