Letters: Baptists and Boy Scouts

Re “Church opposes gays in Scouts,” June 13

As a Baptist, I want to crawl in a hole when I read of such blatant hostility by Christians against gays joining the Boy Scouts of America. The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination in America, just does not get it when it comes to sexual issues.

Its obsession distorts and hurts religion and morality. It belittles the Bible by imposing anti-gay prejudice into it. Baptists certainly besmirch the legacy of Roger Williams, the English theologian who established the first Baptist church in America. He was a fierce advocate for persecuted minorities.

Baptists also show contempt for truth by asserting that homosexuality is a preference and not an orientation. If Baptists do not want to be “of the world,” they need to rid themselves of their worldly prejudices.

Douglas J. Miller

Goleta, Calif.

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