"And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."

Sound familiar? I just want to ask any Christians reading this, what does this say to you? Does this say that you should use homophobic rhetoric to chastise homosexuals who are looking for a monogamous relationship? Does this say that you should spout hateful and cruel insults in reference to Islam to a Muslim?

I have my sins as well, to include smoking, a short temper, cursing. My list of discrepancies goes on, but the above quote says to me that my neighbors (Jews, Muslims, homosexuals, liberals, conservatives, Africans, Hispanics, etc.) are as human as I am. They have their sins and shortcomings just like I do. We are humans, we are fallible.

We are all equal. Equality is a principle that our nation was founded on. I see so many readers using biblical text as an excuse to remain close-minded and as an attempt to shield themselves from an ever-changing world. This is not the attitude and mindset that I enlisted in the military to protect.

I applaud our leaders for looking into the repeal of "don’t ask, don’t tell," and I feel more than relieved to see that there are fellow servicemembers who thought that Spc. Zachari Klawonn’s treatment by his unit was disgusting and unacceptable ("Serving his country and testing his faith," article, March 25). As Christians, we don’t need special classes on tolerance, compassion and understanding. We don’t need separate barracks. The only counseling we need is to crack open a Bible and read it. We need to make up our minds for ourselves.

Pfc. Daniel JohnsonVictory Base Complex, Baghdad

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