Harold N. Miller (Letters, Dec. 24), would have you believe same-sex relationships can be reduced to a place in the list of all the awful things at the end of Romans 1. A clear condemnation if you’ve ever heard it, right? But, tell me, why all this? What’s the “therefore” starting in verse 24, which indicates a continuing thought? What is the context for this? What is before and after the passage? Let’s back up a bit and see the verses before and after the above passage, seen in Romans 1:18-23. Verse 23 says, “they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling a mortal human being or birds or four-footed animals or reptiles.”

Then it dawns on you. This passage is not about homosexuality. It is about idolatry: worshiping images resembling a human or animal instead of God. Once you’ve gone that far, then Pandora’s box flies open.

But wait, there’s more. Nobody ever reads on to the very next verse, Romans 2:1: “Therefore you have no excuse, whoever you are, when you judge others; for in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, are doing the very same things.” And verse 3: “Do you imagine . . . you will escape the judgment of God?”
Context gives a better understanding than cherry-picking a few verses.

Brian D. Stucky, Goessel, Kan.