Readers React: Plenty of churchgoers support marriage equality

To the editor: It was fascinating to read about a small church doing good work in the heart of Isla Vista, home of UC Santa Barbara. Yet I was saddened to see the article marred by ignorance and prejudice. (“Jesus Burgers offers Isla Vista food for body and spirit,” Aug. 11)

Concerning the “struggle religious groups are facing throughout the country,” the article offered the explanation that many young people “identified as political liberals and were in favor of same-sex marriage.” Believe it or not, many religious communities, and many Christian churches, welcome liberals and same-sex couples.

I walk past the Jesus Burgers house every day and have no idea if the pastor is politically intolerant (does not welcome liberals) or socially bigoted (does not welcome same-sex couples); I certainly hope that is not the case. But The Times should not assume that religious belief requires intolerance and bigotry.

Francis Dunn, Isla Vista

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To the editor: If the good folks at Jesus Burgers would really like to stop the cycle of violence and move toward a world of less selfishness and greater compassion, I highly recommend they switch to serving vegan veggie burgers instead of the mutilated corpses of cows that lived in misery on factory farms and whose raising, feeding and slaughtering constitute an enormous amount of pollution and wasted resources.

Stephanie Bennett, Northridge