Here is a textbook example of what projecting one’s own opinions onto a religious figure looks like. The writer of the following letter to the editor of the Spokane, Washington Spokesman-Review objects to the City Council of Spokane, Washington consideration of a resolution in support of Washington’s marriage equality law. The new law is under threat of referendum repeal.

Those of us who dare to oppose same-sex marriage are portrayed as unloving and bigoted homophobes, but my views are firmly rooted in God’s word… [snip]

Jesus doesn’t hate sinners trapped in the sin of homosexuality any more than he hates bankers trapped in the sin of greed, or adulterers trapped in the sin of adultery. But in his love for righteousness he also hates iniquity. He hates the sins of abortion, divorce, child abuse and murder.

He hates the fact that 19 million new cases of sexually transmitted diseases are contracted every year in the United States alone. He also hates it when certain City Council members presume to help redefine marriage into something he clearly cannot bless.

Jesus never spoke a word about gays or marriage equality. There is no mention whatsoever of gays, abortion, or sexually transmitted diseases in the accounts of Jesus’s sayings. And there certainly is no mention of whether Jesus thought that city council members should pass non-binding resolutions on this or any topic. Those topics are purely the concern of the letter-writer, who apparently doesn’t realize that he is projecting his 21st century list of ‘hates’ onto a religious figure in a fatuous effort to gain legitimacy for his opinions.

Anyone in eastern Washington wishing to write a letter to the editor of the Spokesman-Review about why it is important to them that the marriage equality law remains on the books can submit their letter online.