My letter last month (Feb. 10) expressed my frustration with the number of front-page stories concerning “Clergy sex abuse scandals.” To my surprise, I have been pulled aside by church people and told my words were too harsh on the subject.

I am not interested in speaking soft words concerning hard subjects.

Sweeping things under the rug, beating around the bush and looking at things through rose-colored glasses is not my style. I am an in-your-face and get-‘er-done type of guy. Rather than dance around controversial subjects, I am like a bull in a china closet.

I know my personality is hard to swallow for some, and my approach may be a little unorthodox but, nonetheless, no one will ever accuse me of hiding my beliefs behind a stained-glass window.

I will always be an advocate for the victims of abuse and, for that, I will never be ashamed.

Jesus himself, in scripture, warns those who offend, abuse or lead astray little children. In closing, these are the words of Jesus found in Luke 17:2: “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.”

Jesus chose hard words to deal with a hard subject and so do I.

Rev. Douglas Taylor, Lewiston