Editor, Daily Nexus:

This is a response to Constantine Economides’ column (Daily Nexus, "Bible Pervades Society, Preaches Unholy Message," Jan. 12) regarding the Bible and homosexuality. When I read this article, I was shocked by its content. Then I was angered by its accusations.

To begin, I must state that I do agree with Economides’ point that the Bible has been "taken as an absolute and literal truth by others who use it to rationalize and support the mentality that leads to crimes such as Matthew Shepard’s murder." What he does not write is that these people do not understand the Bible. God did not write the Bible; human beings wrote it. Humans wrote it after they had gone through inspirational experiences with God. The Bible is a human entity, not an entity of God. Therefore, it is flawed, because no human is perfect. It is not a book of rules, it is not perfect, and it should, in no way, be taken literally. It does contain many valuable truths, which should be examined and applied today as they were thousands of years ago. It should be read with intelligence and common sense.

Next, the Bible does not brainwash people. A person can read the Bible or not read the Bible, gain knowledge from it, or choose not to gain anything from it. Anthropologists, ancient historians, theologians and scripture scholars have broken off from the "old" way of seeing the Bible as the literal truth. The people who killed Matthew Shepard are not Christians because of what they say and because of what they did. Rather, they are ignorant human beings. According to the murderers, the same book that holds as one of the Ten Commandments, "Thou shalt not kill," also told them to kill Matthew Shepard. If they understood the Bible, they would not have killed him. They are ignorant and evil for having gone so far astray from God’s word and then calling themselves Christians. It is one thing to say that the Bible is an evil book. It is another to use it as an excuse for what you really want to do.

PAIGE SCHOKNECHT