Article on same-sex marriage misrepresents all Christians | LETTER

Published 12:45 pm Monday, February 6, 2012

Your headline article from this past week, titled “Eastside pastor vows to fight same-sex marriage legislation,” immediately grabbed my attention as I am another pastor in Kirkland.

In your article, you proceeded to quote the local pastor’s opposition to the marriage equality bill presently making its way through the legislature countering his arguments with the comments of area politicians.

Well done, but only one pastor from the many in Kirkland was quoted. By writing an article setting one pastor against a number of local politicians many readers, I believe, could read your article and come away with the impression that all Christians oppose marriage equality and that local politicians are creating a law that is outside Christian teaching.

This simplification of what Christians believe and support needs correction.

There are many local pastors, myself included, who would support marriage equality. My own bishop, the Rev. Chris Boerger, recently testified at the legislature in favor of gay marriage.

Your article could have been written much differently highlighting the nuances in Christian thought and quoting a pastor or two who are in support of marriage equality. The title of the article could just as well have been, “Local pastor vows to support same-sex marriage legislation.”

Rev. Michael Anderson, Kirkland