A recent letter writer and I agree that homosexuals shouldn't marry.

I was married once and had two children, my son was married last August. My religious values say I should exchange vows of commitment in a Christian ceremony that would be equal to marriage in the eyes of the law.

The letter writer states that nobody is required to bear children. The Bible admonishes us to "go forth and multiply." It does not specify sexual orientation or method.

If members of my community wish to follow God's teachings then they are required to bear illegitimate children. This violates my community's religious values.

She further says that homosexuals should not bear children. God implemented the desire to procreate in the smallest virus capable of replication to the largest land animals. (The letter writer) does not have the right to deny God's will onto my community.

My Bible is "The Woman's Bible" edited by Elizabeth Cady Stanton in 1895. In it she says "The Bible cannot be accepted or rejected as a whole, its teachings are varied and its lessons differ widely from each other."

When the law allows (the letter writer's) religious values to subordinate my religious values, then freedom of religion ends and tyranny begins.

Sheila L Richardson