I was appalled when I read what Steven Szasz wrote in "Column gives bad view of Christians" (SN 1/30). The majority of our country bases its religion on a book that, as Jon Stewart put it, begins with "two nudists taking dietary advice from a talking snake."

This is to all of the people out there like Szasz who believe firmly in the Bible.

My question, though, is that if you want to quote things out of the Bible, you have to believe everything that the Bible says, don't you? Everyone knows that you can't pick and choose out of the Bible.

Szasz wrote that "God hates the sin … but loves the sinner." That is just a way for bigoted people to feel better about hating others. Tell that to the homosexual people who yearn to be priests but are banned by the church. What about all of those devout "Christians" led by Fred Phelps from Kansas who protest at homosexual funerals yelling that the person is going to hell and that "AIDS cures fags."

I urge everyone to go the Westboro Baptist Church Web site, www.godhatesfags.com, so that everyone can see what lunatics those people are.

So I pose some questions for everyone out there who is a firm believer in this book. Szasz says that it is outrageous to accept homosexuality. One common Bible verse that people quote is Leviticus 18:22 which states that homosexuality is an "abomination."

Well how many of your friends have ever used the Lord's name incorrectly? Leviticus 24:10-16 states that anyone who blasphemes the Lord's name shall die by being stoned to death by their community. Should we build a new venue to carry this out?

Leviticus 19:19 states that two crops should not be planted in the same field and that wearing garments of two different fabrics is sinful. I guess that means everyone should take off their 80 percent cotton, 20 percent polyester shirts because the Bible says it's wrong.

Exodus 21:7 claims you are allowed to sell your daughter into slavery. I'd like to conduct a poll to see who agrees with that one.

Finally, and this is one of my favorites, Leviticus 11:10 states that eating shellfish is an "abomination." Religious groups often say the same thing about homosexuality. Anybody up for shrimp tonight?

Craig Duckworth
political science and pre-law junior