letters to this newspaper as has the debate on the law against male homosexual acts in private. The flood of letters has clearly been encouraged by the gay community and by the fundamentalist churches. It is also clear to us that the letters have been suggested to many people by the ongoing controversy in the United States over the new President's move to end the ban on gays in the US military, a subject Bermuda has not even begun to consider.

The letters to this newspaper have come from a very wide spectrum of Bermuda's people, some of whom understandably dare not use their name. The anti-gay statements have made it very clear why some people must remain anonymous because they are so filled with threats and hate. We think there should be as much public concern in this community over the deep vein of hatred as there is over consideration of the anti-gay law itself. The controversy has demonstrated that Bermuda has a large number of people who have no understanding of a God of love or of goodwill toward men but have been taught by their churches to rely too heavily on the hellfire, damnation and fearful God of the Old Testament rather than on the loving Christ. Impartial observers could be forgiven for thinking that the Inquisition is alive and well in Bermuda except for the mature and loving stand taken by the Anglican and Roman Catholic bishops.

Basically what is a human rights issue is being twisted by the traditional taboos on sex. People have a right to their religious beliefs but they do not have a right to demand that their Government control consenting private acts.

Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau told Canada in the late 1960s, "Government has no place in the bedrooms of the nation.'' The letters to the Editor demonstrate some basic misunderstanding of what is being suggested by the abolition of this law. Homosexual males want the law, not their conscience or their morality or their God, only the law kept out of bedrooms and then only when consenting adults are involved.

Historically the law was never applied to females because of a fluke. Queen Victoria struck out the application of the law to women and told her Prime Minister that she could assure him as a woman that women did not do those things. Contrary to what some letter writers say, the abolitionists do not seek approval for public sex, child molestation, sexual assault or the spread of AIDS. There are plenty of laws which now protect members of the public from being subjected to sexual acts not of their choice. Male homosexuals do not want to be open to ten years in prison because of private and consensual acts.

They seek to be legal in their own homes in private. They also seek not to be exposed to such things as blackmail and legal threats because of their private lifestyle.

We think that if the law was struck off, the controversy would die in a matter of weeks, as it did in Britain some 30 years ago, and Bermudians would notice no change in public behaviour.

However, when the controversy does end Bermuda will still be left with the institutionalised hatred. Historically we all know that hatred finds some horrifying outlets. Where it exists and is sanctioned as it is now by some churches, it is used. It is usually used to dominate minorities and those who are "different'' simply because it is a bully or a coward's weapon against those people who are easy prey. Blacks know that. The handicapped are just beginning to overcome it. Jews have the everlasting example of Hitler's human ovens. Indeed, Christians once knew it, even from their own kind. History is full of the horrors of hatred.

We thought Bermuda was a kinder, gentler, more mature and more Christian place.