As for me, I'll follow Jesus

To the editor:

In the Old Testament we find the book of Leviticus. Notice the first four letters of that name: Levi. This book was written as the Levitical law to be followed by Levite priests. To be one of these Levite priests, one must prove his lineage all the way back to Levi. One may not otherwise become a priest in this particular order. However, many people throughout Christian society mistakenly use Leviticus 18:22 for the purpose of fostering bigotry and hatred (not good moral values) toward up to 10 percent of humanity.

Webster's dictionary defines "Christian" as "one who believes in and follows the teachings of Jesus Christ." Granted, Jesus was an outspoken radical who cared not whose toes he stepped on when speaking of the hypocrisy he observed and experienced. So let us all agree that if Jesus Christ had an issue with something, he spoke on it. Furthermore, everything we have that chronicles the words and actions of Jesus Christ can be found in Matthew, Mark Luke and John. Nowhere in those four books does Jesus Christ ever raise the issue of homosexuality.

So, are people going to follow Levi and call yourselves Levites?

To paraphrase, as for me and my house, we shall serve and follow Jesus Christ and try each day to live up to his greatest commandment of all: Love one another.

JAMES F. COLEY, Cape Girardeau