Letter From Guam

A reader writes:

I wanted to call your attention to a letter sent out this week by the office of the Archbishop here on Guam. Recently, the Guam legislature, led by an openly gay senator, B.J. Cruz (himself a self-admitted victim of Catholic clergy abuse), introduced proposed legislation, Bill 185, that would recognize same-sex domestic partnerships. In response, the Archdiocese put out this letter (pdf).

Though it leaves me speechless and mortified, it's fascinating to see the main lines of argument distilled down into their inglorious essence. It's all here: the denial of sex for pleasure, the "condemnation" of a child raised by same-sex parents, the "promiscuity" angle, and of course the "end of Western Civilization." But I found the penultimate paragraph truly arresting:

"Islamic fundamentalists clearly understand the damage that homosexual behavior inflicts on a culture. This is why they repress such behavior by death...It may be brutal at times, but any culture that is able to produce wave after wave of suicide bombers...is a culture that at least knows how to value self sacrifice."

The mind reels. I can't help but recall that picture you've posted of those Iranian boys, twisting in the wind. Hanged for being gay.

Reading the words from the Guam Archdiocese, one sees the sick confluence of it all. Two very different faiths, but a common desire to claw their way back--no matter what it takes or who it destroys--into the Dark Ages.