Editor, Times-Union: I am submitting this letter in regards to the news this past weekend of the alleged child molestation by a local man. It will not be proven for quite some time if this man is guilty or not and I certainly do not know if the allegations are true, therefore, I cannot and will not point my finger. More importantly, it is not my place to judge him but to pray for the situation. I just needed to say a few things because there is going to be a lot of talk, rumors, speculation and misinformation. My intentions are not to make anyone angry, only help if I can.
If and only if these allegations are true, of course, he should and will pay for his actions. However, if there is a chance that these allegations are false, then certainly apologies need to be made. But if this is true, the children involved should get some immediate counseling because this type of thing can do a lot of damage.
This may be a little difficult for people to accept or understand but please try to be open-minded and think about it. There are individuals in all walks of life or in different lifestyles that can give their own groups of people a bad rap or cause others to point fingers and judge. It seems that when the public hears of a child, in particular a male child, being molested, they automatically assume it is by a gay adult individual. This is not always true. In most cases a gay man has not and would not hurt a child in any way. But the public usually assumes this. As I said, there are individuals that give their groups a bad rap and it is unfortunate for those of us that live good lives, who want to better ourselves, who want to be accepted for who we are, who would do nothing intentional to hurt anyone, who do trust and have faith in God. But when something like this happens, a group sometimes gets categorized or judged because of that one individual's actions. I am a gay man and I try to live my life the best that I can. I try to see the best in everyone around me. When I hear of these situations that occur, it sickens me. And when I heard of the one this past weekend, it sickened me and it hurt deep inside.
If, however, the recent allegations become truth, I hope that the community can handle it in a positive way and not "kill" others with words or terms or by judging a whole group or lifestyle of people because of one individual's terrible wrongdoing. Please, please, know that there is a difference between what one person does and who we really are as a whole. There is a large gay community out there and everywhere, for that matter, and the highest percentage of us are good people just like you, we pay taxes just like you, we shop at the same stores as you, we drive on the same side of the street as you, in some cases such as mine we worship the same God as you, we care just like you and we love just like you. I for one will be praying for everyone involved in this matter.
Kerry Mills Mentone via e-mail Editor's Note: This letter was edited to conform more closely to the 500-word limited stated in our "Letters Policy."
Censor Ann Coulter
Editor, Times-Union: I must admit that I don't usually read Ann Coulter's column, but the column on March 14 had some things in it that really need your attention.
Since Ms. Coulter is the reigning queen of innuendo, half truths and downright lies, her drivel isn't worth printing and in that column she admits it and, to quote her, "Liberals are too pathetic to write about. I have nothing to do; my life is over."
While I don't think suicide is the way out for her, it would be a blessing for those of us that read the Times-Union if this was the last of her pathetic scribblings. However, without a doubt, there will be more of her self-serving diatribes in the future. After going through her column on the 14th with a yellow highlighter, I found that nearly half her column was devoted to promoting herself. She has an extremely high opinion of her writing. This is most unfortunate, as it lacks truth as well as good taste.
