This item appeared in the Macarthur Chronicle, 11th October 2011.
Ms Bond regularly posts letters in one or other of our two local newspapers. Many of them - like the one above - are supremely intolerant of lifestyles which do not match her own "high" standards. I am sure she has a small audience of equally bigoted supporters cheering every fanatical word she writes.
However, people who continually whack you over the head with their "holy" book, whenever they wish to express an opinion, really ought to learn how to think for themselves. The bible is a collection of old manuscripts written by story-tellers of the time. It is full of ambiguities and contradictions which allow people like Ms Bond to make their own interpretations to quote down at us. Proclaiming snippets from the bible, as a trump card to win an argument, is a very weak debating point and a complete cop-out.
I honestly don't know if the bible unambiguously teaches that homosexuality is "immoral, sinful and wrong". I don't care either, because I have learned how to think for myself. Whilst Ms Bond appears to be an extremist who regularly quotes the unreliable scribblings of irrational middle-eastern cave-dwellers, I've used my own brain to carefully analyse the topic in a modern context. After weighing up the evidence rationally, I've come to the conclusion that it is not my business to prevent gays from getting married. Nor is it hers. Nor is the business of society as a whole.
It may not be politically correct to point out publicly that very few people take the bible literally anymore - but it is demonsrably true. It tells us clearly to observe Sundays as a day of rest but entertainment, shops, transport, police, firemen, governments and many more work on Sundays - it is no longer taboo and no-one tries to stop it. I would also hazard a guess that the bible implies that divorce is not allowed - but it is, of course, fully acceptable in our society now. Sex before marriage is hardly a sin any more and we no longer ostracise unmarried mums, we support them. Careful reading of the bible would reveal that genocide, incest and slavery are certainly permissible but we ignore those bits now. Ms Bond might disagree, of course - but it's true, nevertheless.
I wonder how much longer I will be able to resist the strong temptation to respond to irrational letters like this?