This letter is just one more to throw into the arena of debate on homosexuality.

I suggest that everyone—especially the knuckleheads unclear on the biological cause of homosexuality—read the cover article of the March 1993 issue of The Atlantic, which discusses the latest work in the search for the exact trigger for sexual orientation. It is well-written and researched, and it relies on little biological jargon. Those of you who live in a restricted world of thought and are unresponsive to new ideas should not waste your time because you won’t get anything out of the article.

I hate to single out and attack Sean Michael Kenney, but his letter was the proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back. Kenney wrote that same-sex relations constitute a sin against God (is there any other kind of sin?) regardless of the causation of homosexuality. If this idea is accepted, then I have to ask why are heterosexuals better than homosexuals? In avoiding sin, why can straight people have fulfilling sexual lives, while gays must live chastely? Doesn’t sound like a fair and just God to me.

Kenney (and many of his kindred spirits) use Leviticus and other books of the Bible to justify their position, but Nietzsche had it right when he said “God is dead.” In the modern world, unlike medieval Europe, religion cannot adequately serve as the center of life and thought. God gave mankind brains; use them. Asking questions about human existence is the best exercise of intelligence. Relying on the Bible is just too easy. Its simplistic answers do not satisfy life’s complicated queries. Luckily people like Galileo and Darwin asked questions.

Don’t get me wrong; I like the Bible. It has some good things to say like “Love thy neighbor,” and it has some interesting characters (that Jesus-dude comes to mind—you may have heard of him). In life, however, my remote control is more important than my Bible (somewhere in my apartment I have one of those little green New Testaments that I’m given 12 times a year). Both items are neat to have but not vital to my existence, but with the remote, I can turn on CNN which is more helpful than the Bible when it comes to understanding the human condition.

I love arguing face to face; it ranks somewhere between a Cuban cigar and seeing a Cubs-Cardinals or Blues-Blackhawks game in person (go Redbirds; vive la Bluenote!). If Mr. Kenney, any of his comrades-in-thought (or lack thereof), or anyone else wishes to respond to my ideas then, in addition to or instead of writing The Northern Star, leave a note in my mailbox on the sixth floor of Zulauf Hall or give me a call. We can go somewhere, have a beer or an espresso (depending on the time of day), play some pinball for 10 cents a million points, and converse politely like William Gladstone and Benjamin Disraeli.

DAVID TAJKOWSKI

Graduate Student

History