What I write is in the public arena and is always open to those who want to use it for any purpose, so feel free. However, I try to give credit to those who have inspired me and I believe honesty should require you to do so also. It is not a good strategy to oppose evil by you being dishonest. So why don't you say it your way, or attribute it obliquely by saying, "Someone once said," or, "I read recently a bishop who said . . . " At rock bottom, I don't mind my words and thoughts being used without credit. Since I read constantly, I am not always able to give credit properly simply because I do not know where I got a particular idea.

Politicians, acting out of fear and sensing that the prejudice of homophobia still represents a majority opinion, are rushing everywhere to get amendments to the constitution nationally and state by state to ban gay marriages. President Bush surely knows that he can never get the Federal Constitution amended in this discriminatory way. That effort is little more than red meat for the religious right to be used as the 'Willie Horton wedge issue' in this 2004 campaign. These politicians know that they will have to rush because every day, homophobia dies a bit more. In ten years it will be a tiny minority voice. In 25 years it will be gone. No politician from the president of the United States to your state senator in Minnesota will look good on this issue from the vantage point of history. The voters may support this prejudice today but they are not likely to support it tomorrow. Both president Bush and State Senator Michelle Bachman (R.Mn.) will have to decide whether they want to be part of America's past or part of America's future.

I wish you well. The side you present will win this struggle. The only question is how long will it take? Good luck!

-- John Shelby Spong