Gay acceptance vs. fanaticism

Re: Gay Acceptance Vs. Religion, letter to the editor; Gay Acceptance, infographic, June 22.

Saturday’s paper offered a striking Infographic depicting a possible but unproven link between gay acceptance and global faiths. In his Tuesday response to a letter about it, Richard Johnson, Managing editor for Graphics and Illustrations, made a leap of logic from the writer’s implicit idea that gays are less accepted in Muslim countries, to the idea that “all of the world’s problems are caused by Muslims.”

The reality is that all world religions, in their theological foundations, avoid sanctioning gay sex. In this area, fundamentalist Christians and Jews are no different than fundamentalist Muslims. even the Dalai Lama, when I heard him interviewed on the CBC, said gay sex is OK for non-Buddhists, but not for Buddhists.

despite that, there are many religious gays of all faiths who love God and try to live good lives helping others. The source of gay prejudice lies less in faith than in fanaticism — something also found in all religions, but most especially these days within radical Islam.

Doug Couper, Milton, Ont. Letter-writer Peter Mifsud cites the Philippines as the only religious country that is also very accepting of gays. Filipinos imitate Americans in many aspects of their lives, and the Philippines is a close ally of the united States. Perhaps the reason why gay acceptance is so high in the Philippines is because it is the most Americanized country in Asia.

Alex Sotto, Montreal.