Homosexuality and the Views of County’s Clergymen

For a publication that claims to offer unbiased reporting of the news to print Joe Bell’s article, “Clergy Divided Over Dannemeyer Appeal,” (Oct. 25) is hard to understand. The article reported on efforts to respond to a column in the Orange County Register that stated that “homosexuality is not a sin.”

To set the record straight, we drafted a letter to the editor of the Register showing that the Bible makes it clear that homosexuality is definitely a sin but that we are all guilty of sins. The letter was sent to about 350 clergy in Orange County who were invited to have their names included in the list of signers.

Remarkably, about 27% of these very busy men responded to the invitation with about 91% (89 out of 97) requesting that their names be attached to the letter. That is an outstanding response and clearly shows that the clergy overwhelmingly agree on this issue.

However, your article gave your readers a very different impression. The headline declared “clergy divided,” and the first paragraph stated that we had “met with mixed results” in response to this letter. The use of words like “divided” and “mixed” in reporting a response of about 91% must raise some questions about his bias on this issue.

Even the layout of the article was misleading. It included photographs of three clergymen with their reaction to the letter. Two of the three opposed our letter, giving the cursory reader the impression that the clergy opposed us 2 to 1.

In addition, when reporting some of the actions that I have taken to control the spread of the AIDS epidemic, you mentioned my effort to have all male homosexuals excluded from donating blood as if it were an attack on homosexuals and not an effort to secure a safer blood supply. You neglected to report that one month after my recommendation, the Centers for Disease Control acted to implement most of my suggestion. When I asked Mr. Bell during his interview whether he felt that my recommendation was unreasonable, he hesitated for a moment and then changed the subject, refusing to respond.

It is worth noting that in quoting our letter to the editor of the Register, the one section omitted is the one that says: “We are not sitting in judgment of homosexuals. After all, the Bible tells us that all men sin and can be forgiven for their sins.” This letter is not an attack on people. It is a correction of a misstatement of fact about what is and is not defined as “sin.”

My purpose in writing to you is merely to make it clear that I am not attacking homosexuals. I am attacking a deadly disease that has, to this point, primarily infected male homosexuals and intravenous drug users. As a senior member of the health and environment subcommittee, it is my responsibility to do everything in my power to protect the public health when it is threatened by a virus such as AIDS. Any unbiased report of my efforts would make that clear.

WILLIAM E. DANNEMEYER

Member of Congress