The Nov. 15 Bangor Daily News editorial invited the public to discuss Concerned Maine Families’ latest efforts to initiate a referendum to ban same sex marriages. Predictably, two reverends have already responded to this issue citing passages from the Bible both for and against homosexuals’ rights to marry (BDN, Nov. 11 and 13). At one election station Nov. 5 a volunteer collecting signatures blurted out to me in favor of the ban, “Read your Bible!” The volunteer assumed that, according to the Bible, the only legitimate marriage is a heterosexual Christian marriage and that I was a Christian (which I am not). She assumed that the role of the state is to protect her interpretation of the Bible and Maine Concerned Families ideas about morality.

The effort to ban same sex marriages is a crusade against people, lumped together, who happen to be homosexuals. Homosexuals become the new enemies of morality in this crusade like women (labeled as witches), the poor, Native Americans, people of color or of differing religious views in America. Banning gay marriages is another form of oppression.

The worst evils of human history were when people, feeling morally superior, found ways to victimize and rob others of basic rights and protections. There is nothing “moral” about prejudice and finding ways to polilticize bigotry. What this does is promulgate hate and tramples on the sanctity of life.

A change is needed in the hearts of us all. We need to challenge intolerance and learn how to respect people with different traditions, rituals and beliefs, who happen to have different perspectives. Finding ways to oppress others because they think differently is escapist and cowardly. It directs attention away form the real culprit: our own hearts, minds, and souls.

If people need to explore ways that marriage, as a social instiution, can be improved, they must first recognize that it is not the practice of one culture or religion. Marriages often fail when there is violence, one person is treated as a mere sex object, and when the respect, trustworthiness, and love are absent. All healthy marriages can best be characterized by a commitment to love, loyalty and long-term sharing and is built on mutual respect, appreciation and understanding. What is wrong with encouraging such commitments whether we be straight or gay? Chris Stark Winterport