John Dumont (June 27) has been "following the gay marriage issue for years" and asks questions of someone "much smarter than me." Having taught in Maine schools for many years, I am embarrassed at his questions.
Please pay attention, class. This is important and we've gone over this many times.
First, class, our elected officials voted for marriage equality because they are obliged to obey the Constitution, which protects the rights of all people, not just the majority or the popular. Perhaps Dumont missed that civics class. (Actually, the majority of Maine citizens spoke and voted in favor of equality for all Maine people.)
Second, Dumont is not correct — animals do not always pick mates of the opposite sex. Same-gender pairings occur throughout the animal kingdom, as any good biology teacher would point out.
Third, he asks why God made Adam and Eve. Again, biology: male and female procreate. Not all human beings want to do that, can do that, should be coerced to do that, or be denied civil rights if they don't. Love, not procreation, makes a family. That is a preschool lesson.
Now, class, why do you suppose Dumont came up with only one biblical example of God's plan for marriage? Wasn't David and Jonathan's covenent of "love more wonderful than that of a woman" also God's plan? Perhaps he forgot that example.
Children have to be taught to hate and fear, but, as adults, we can learn what we may have missed in school.
Lew Alessio, Greene