In a Sunday Bulletin article urging parishioners to contact their lawmakers to oppose gay marriage (SB 6239), the pastor quotes Ecclesiastes 3:7, "There is ... 'a time to keep silence, and a time to speak.' Now is that time!" Indeed it is. It is time to recognize one of the principles on which this great country was established: You don't get to use the power of the government to force your religious beliefs on everyone else. It's time to start -- as this church's motto claims -- "showing Christ's love and sharing his story."

Somewhere in my Methodist upbringing, I learned that Jesus taught that there was a better way than strict adherence to the Old Testament's harsh rules and retributions. It is indeed time to recognize that if you need the government to force people to accept what you believe are Jesus' teachings it's likely that you've missed an important point or two.

It's time to give up this particular bigotry and recognize that all God's children deserve equal rights under the law.

Kirk Williamson, Richland