| Letters to the editor Jesus can transform homosexuals I am writing in response to Adele Hutchins who expressed her views on homosexuals in the ministry in a letter to the editor in the July 7 UMConnection. She believes homosexuals suffer the same religious persecution as the lepers of Jesus' day. As a former homosexual, I can assure you they do. But her conclusion that gays should be placed in every level of ministry is errant to the other extreme. True, Jesus embraced lepers. But he didn't exalt their diseased condition. He healed them. I lived the 'gay' lifestyle for 15 years. I watched one of my partners die of AIDS. I've seen the suicides, drug abuse, promiscuity, depression and alcoholism. These maladies are most rampant where the lifestyle is most encouraged. It is not social intolerance and religious persecution that cause them. It is the destructive nature of the sin itself. God's prohibition against such fornication is, therefore, clearly for our own good. When I met Jesus, he didn't pat me on the back and put me behind the pulpit. He cleansed me of my sin and healed me of my moral illness. He shed his own blood to do so; something no mortal male could ever do. That's why I'm no longer a homosexual. It's one reason why I'm going into the ministry. By speaking the truth in love we introduce all sinners to a savior who will heal us and conform us to his perfect image. And that, Ms. Hutchins, is most certainly not one of a homosexual clergyman — at any level. Michael Burdick
Huntington, W.Va. We must get the words right I write to thank Erik Alsgaard for his editorial titled, 'Wine, wine, wine' in the June 23 UMConnection. His, 'It's grape juice, even though we call it wine,' is refreshingly honest and candid at a time in the life of our denomination when we say so much that we do not mean. The editorial is significant in its gentleness as it points out one of the many contradictions we live with but fail to talk about in the life of our denomination. We know that each one of us is a 'living contradiction' and so is the church we love. We speak of 'open doors,' but we know those for whom our church doors are closed. We speak of denominational 'unity,' but we know that for some of our sisters and brothers, unity means 'uniformity.' It's 'their way or the highway.' We claim commitment to equality, but too often clergywomen's salaries are not comparable to the salaries we clergymen receive. I have often wondered if we fail to notice our denominational contradictions because our nation, founded on such magnificent words of equality, was born in contradiction? The founders did not mean nor practice equality for all. Native Americans, African Americans and women experienced, and are still experiencing, a less than equal America. It might have been better if in those early years they had said, 'created equal with some exceptions.' The next-to-last sentence in the editorial says, 'Maybe, when we get the words right, the blessings will begin to flow again.' Maybe so; many of us hope so. Rev. Gilbert H. Caldwell (retired)
Denver, Colo. ‘What if it was your daughter?' I am in agreement with Jeff Maley's letter to the editor in the July 7 UMConnection. I would like to ask Bishop Felton Edwin May just one question. If the three women murdered by Steven Howard Oken had been your daughters or sisters, would you still feel the state of Maryland should not have carried out the death penalty? It would have been better for you to have prayed for the families of the women that were murdered. We know what the Bible teaches when you take a life. I believe Gov. Ehrlich made the right decision. Don Corbett
Catalpa UMC, Hancock | 
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