As a writer, I try my best to ensure that the words I choose have precise meaning. Paul Van Noy’s letter on July 6 contains this sentence, “True love requires the hatred of that which harms!” Upon diagraming this sentence, I distill the subject-verb-object of “love requires hatred.”

In all the religious texts I’ve read, and of all the religious philosophies I’ve studied, I can find no instance where hatred is mandated as a prerequisite for love. It’s foolish to suggest so.

Christ speaks of love and hatred in Luke 6:27-38. He says nothing of the sort that “love requires hatred.” Quite the contrary. Therefore, I’m curious to know from which source a pastor of one of the area’s largest Christian congregations is preaching?

DAN GOOKIN

Coeur d’Alene