Ditching Dogma to Limit Intolerance

* Jeffrey Michael Raines’ statement to the court, prior to his sentencing for beating Loc Minh Truong nearly to death because he thought Truong was gay, is a perfect example of one major contradiction expressed in the Catholic and fundamentalist Christian religious teachings.

Raines stated that the Catholic Church taught him to love all those around him and “that’s how I’m going to be the rest of my life.” This is indeed a great challenge to the faithful whose religious leaders preach the “love one another” message of Christ and in the next breath condemn homosexuals as deviants deserving of God’s wrath and ours as well. They are taught to “love the ‘sinner’ and hate the ‘sin.’ ” This is an impossible task (even forgiving for a moment the fact that this message requires mere mortals to pass judgment on one another), because sexual orientation cannot truly be altered, nor can those who try to repress their nature live fulfilling and healthy lives.

It is time to ditch the dogma and teach people to accept the full spectrum of human reality and apply Christ’s message to every living creature, regardless of sexual orientation, religion, race or gender. This will go a long way toward eliminating intolerance and hate crimes. I won’t say that Raines was a victim of his religious education, but he sure learned this lesson the hard way.

MADELYNN RIGOPOULOS

Huntington Beach