William Edelen Matthew Shepard died last Monday morning. A gay young man in the prime of his life brutally and horribly murdered. The insanity of it demands that a question be asked by every sensitive human being in America. Republican 'leaders' Trent Lott and Dick Armey proclaim on national television that they 'believe in their bible and homosexuality is a sin against God'.
Fundamentalist preachers degrade their pulpits with inflammatory language about gays and lesbians.
Fundamentalist preachers who use radio and television, including the Rev. D. James Kennedy, Pat Robertson, and James Dobson even produce 'special' shows on homosexuality that lead indirectly to violence and to depression, self hatred, and suicide for sensitive young gay and lesbian human beings. They are the victims of this avalanche of hatred from 'Christian' pulpits and 'Christian' television. They use the bible like it has been used in the past to support slavery from the pulpits and to discriminate against women. They aim isolated passages now at gays, even as Martin Luther and Hitler used the bible against Jews. To be an 'accomplice' or 'accessories after the fact' in a murder is a crime as I understand it.