I commend The Pilot for its "Peculiar Concerns In Bullying Debate" editorial. Our PFLAG group hears story after story of such experiences our gay/lesbian brothers and sisters endure at the hands of bullies.

It is sad that some church groups inadvertently sanction such behavior by opposing gay rights because of selected Scripture verses, apparently ignoring Jesus' mandate "to love one another."

Recently, a fourth-grade boy shared with my wife his concern about bullying in high school. How sad is it when a child is already anxious about an environment that is still five years away?

As the apostle Paul writes in I Corinthians 13:12, "we (now) see through a glass darkly." It seems to me that when we see too "clearly" we become moral keepers of the gate -- God's "lieutenants" based on our cultural interpretations of Scripture and behavior.

The common phrase, "I love the sinner and not the sin" applies to all of us if we buy the notion that we've all fallen short of the glory of God or the glory of who we are as creations of God.

Perhaps we should stop picking on others and work on ourselves. When we see so "clearly" that our moral concerns replace our capacity to love, it is time to evaluate our cultural interpretations. We all have our biases and hangups; let's not make others the victims of them.

The folk in the Taliban are very sincere and believe strongly in their religious dogma. I respect their convictions and the way they choose to live. Unfortunately, their faith fervor becomes destructive when they use it to justify abuse.

Chas Griffin

Seven Lakes