Linda Eldridge – 6/27/06

This page was last updated on November 16, 2006.

‘These people’ are just like us; Linda Eldridge; Beaver County Times; June 27, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the letter.

“In his Thursday letter to the editor, Paul Kisiday claims banning gay marriage is not homophobic.”

[RWC] This critique is not to defend the subject letter. It’s to point out problems with Ms. Eldridge’s response. I found Mr. Kisiday’s letter pretty lame and expected his obnoxious letter to generate equally obnoxious responses. Guys like Mr. Kisiday give the rest of us a bad name.

“We have differing opinions on that, but that is perfectly all right. Every individual is entitled to feel, think and believe whatever he or she wants.”

[RWC] In case you missed it, Ms. Eldridge believes anyone who believes a marriage should be only between a man and a woman is a homophobe. This is no different from claiming a person is a racist if he opposes preferential treatment for politically correct ethnic groups and/or races.

“Every individual is entitled to feel, think and believe whatever he or she wants,” but if you disagree with Ms. Eldridge on this subject you are a homophobe.

Further, since most Americans oppose same-sex “marriage,” Ms. Eldridge apparently believes most Americans are homophobes.

“For instance, I believe that nobody should dictate whom a consenting adult should fall in love with or deprive them the legal entitlements of any other couple.

“It was his laughable assertion that most homosexuals became that way due to a traumatic life experience that prompted this response. Millions of people deal with traumatic experiences every day, and it is doubtful that any of them became homosexual because of that.

“It was his counter-reference to ‘love your brother as I love you,’ where he likened homosexuals to murderers, rapists and thieves, that prompted this response.

“It was his continued references to ‘these’ people when referring to homosexuals, as if they were not even human beings with all the rights he himself feels entitled to, that prompted this response.

“However, there is one point that Kisiday and I do agree on. God does present us with challenges throughout our lives that we must accomplish. One of his challenges should be to overcome his small mindedness and prejudice.”

[RWC] I give Ms. Eldridge credit for using “homosexual” instead of “gay” except for the leadoff sentence.

Given Ms. Eldridge believes most Americans are homophobes, perhaps one of her “challenges should be to overcome [her] small mindedness and prejudice.”