Letters

<< Previous   of   Next >>   ADVERTISEMENT   HAVE YOUR SAY Feel strongly about something? Share it with the community by writing a letter to the editor. You’ll need to include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) We reserve the right to edit letters, but if you keep yours to 250 words or less, we won’t ask you to shorten it. If your letter is published, please wait 30 days before submitting another. Send it to: E-mail: letters@heraldnet.com Mail: Letters section The Herald P.O. Box 930 Everett, WA 98206 Fax: 425-339-3458 Have a question about letters? Contact Carol MacPherson (cmacpherson@heraldnet.com or 425-339-3472).   Published: Sunday, July 5, 2009 CHURCHES Exclusivity not in keeping with faith Regarding the June 27 article, "Gay-friendly shift at 2 churches": Many churches have rules of behavior that can disqualify or at least discourage membership. The rules may be written or unwritten. If you enter a church and happen to be on their list, you find out very quickly. You feel unwelcome, probably hurt, and you go elsewhere. Or you might decide to avoid church entirely. Besides gays, the list might include: divorcees, street people, drinkers, people with different skin color, smokers, unmarried couples living together, ex-cons, atheists, female clergy, non-tithers, etc. You might get the evil eye if you have tattoos, piercings, or if you wear dirty jeans, or even if you wear a fancy suit. These "to be avoided" lists are so large and varied, that we are probably all listed somewhere. None of this exclusive club-building behavior has much to do with Jesus, though. He showed us his all-inclusive love, mercy and forgiveness. He taught that we are all imperfect, and that none of us has the right to judge and condemn anyone else when we always have our own dirty laundry to deal with. The more attention we pay to the (perceived) sins of others, the easier it is to ignore our own very real ones. And that is a decidedly hypocritical, un-Christian cop-out. Tim Ruggenberg Camano Island

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