Dear Editor:
I found the two responses to same-sex attraction printed Tuesday to be quite annoying. Not only have these two gentlemen missed entirely the point the original author was trying to make, but the kind of redundant doctrinal definitions and sanctimonious calls to repentance they make are just the sort of thing the people with this problem find unhelpful and are trying to prevent.
First of all, challenging issues (including same-sex attraction) are precisely the sort of topics BYU students need to resolve in a public forum. This is true for two reasons: 1. There are more students than we realize that struggle alone with this difficult problem and need our help, and we can't offer that help ignorantly. 2. Exposure to the issues and emotions inherent to the problem goes a long way toward eliminating the biases that leave LDS Church members with same-sex attraction so bewildered and despondent.
In addition, I wonder what these men mean when they say 'my heart goes out,' or 'I echo the author's call for understanding.' It seems to me that neither one of them has the foggiest scooby-doo what people with SSA could be going through. One of them seems to saying, 'I care, now shut up,' and the other, 'I care, but you're still going to hell.' Are you going to have this attitude as a bishop?
Finally, I agree that we should take a stand for morality, but could someone please tell me what value there is in repeatedly emphasizing the wickedness of same-sex attraction to the very people asking for our help? Every LDS person with the problem has probably heard just about enough of how bad his or her desires are. What they would like now is a solution. Moreover, the author of the original article was strongly urging people suffering from the embarrassment, loneliness and despair of same-sex attraction to approach ecclesiastical leaders and to seek professional help, while at the same time noting that doing so does not automatically eliminate the attraction. SSA is certainly not the only weakness that doesn't vanish with an interview.
Now I am a staunch heterosexual, and I hold no reverence whatsoever for sexual immorality, but this is a serious and difficult problem for more people than we realize in the church. They're trying to resolve their problem -- let's give them a little breathing room, shall we?
Zachary Sibio
Las Vegas