The Daily Egyptian is published by the students of SIU at Carbondale. Except during vacations and exam weeks, The Daily Egyptian is published Monday through Friday during the fall and spring semesters and TWThF during the summer semester."

Christianity hijacked?

Help! My religion is being hijacked and used to spread messages of hate and violence! As someone who tries to follow Jesus I was ashamed to read the front page of my DAILY EGYPTIAN yesterday.

How long before we can realize that freedom of religion does not mean freedom to impose your religion on those who are not like you? How can we not see that mixing church and state is a recipe for oppression and injustice?

The anti-same-sex rally (and others who invoke the name of Jesus to spread hatred) needs to remember the true message of Jesus, love and acceptance. They should also remember the spirit of the law, to protect people's freedom. Making marriage a heterosexual-members-only club lacks on both religious and legal grounds.

Even if some followers of Jesus find problems with gay marriage on moral ground, there is no reason to turn it into a legal issue. We can offer people who pay the same taxes and have the same civic responsibility as straight people the same benefits as straight people. It just makes sense.

Members of religious communities never have the right to use the law to try to make people's actions meet their beliefs, especially if those actions are causing no harm. It is for this reason I am ashamed at what gets done in the name of my religion. I am reminded of a bumper sticker I once saw: "Jesus, please save me from your followers." W. Benjamin Myers
graduate student, speech communication

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