A Big Bridge That Is Not to Be Crossed
The recent Times editorial denouncing my participation in the Irvine Family Coalition (“Pro-Family Initiative Is Rooted in Prejudice,” Orange County section, Jan. 15) was enough to make George Orwell cringe. In its desire to grant special privileges to the homosexual community-- privileges not granted other groups of Americans--The Times has taken to defining the issue as one of “discrimination.” Discrimination against what? Sodomy?
Discrimination is not the issue. Homosexuality, and whether we as a society should attempt to maintain a certain moral standard, is.
If homosexuals want to engage in abnormal sexual practices in the privacy of their own homes, that is their business (tolerance is called for). However, when they want the community to approve and legitimize sodomy, then it is time for all people of decency to stand up and say no (acceptance is not called for). Remember, what homosexuals are asking us to embrace is a practice that the traditional community has always deemed immoral. Moral opposition to homosexuality certainly did not start with Bob Dornan or the Irvine Values Coalition.
So when The Times accuses us of “ignorant prejudice,” they are accusing, by inference, those whose teachings and writings form our Judeo-Christian heritage, from where we find our moral direction, of “ignorant prejudice” as well. And when you do that, you question the very moral legitimacy of our society and open it up to the barbaric attacks of those preaching moral relativism, the bane of the 20th Century.
Unable to convince America that their perversions and functional disorders are not immoral, homosexuals and their allies provide rationalizations for their aberrant behavior couched in the scrupulous language of anti-discrimination. In this, The Times is obviously a willing partner. Who, after all, could be against anti-discrimination laws? But again, discrimination is not the issue, homosexuality is.
If The Times wants to continue accusing me of discrimination because I will not accept the legitimization of immoral acts that the vast majority of the American people oppose--indeed, find offensive--then so be it. I am in good company. But The Times should realize that there is a big bridge from tolerance and acceptance. And with regard to homosexuality, that is one bridge I will not cross.
ROBERT K. DORNAN
U.S. Congressman
38th District