To the editor:

I am troubled by the recent letter from Peggy Trefts urging people to call in their support of what she called the “federal marriage amendment.”

It was so full of erroneous information that if it had been April 1st I would have written it off as a joke. “Since civilization began,” she wrote, “on every continent, in every religion, marriage has been considered one man and one woman.”

Has Ms. Trefts never had a history class? Read a book? Seen a movie?

The fact is that most religions, on most continents, for most of history have allowed quite a few variations on the one man, one woman marriage. The one man, many women variation has been the most frequent, including among the patriarchs of the Old Testament.

Did this fact really elude Ms. Trefts?

I probably join quite a number of my friends and neighbors in being undecided about the issue of gay marriage.

Sure, it makes me kind of uneasy, but do I have the right to deny others a basic right because it makes me uneasy? Democracy is seldom easy. I am looking for someone to present me with sound reasons why I should oppose it. But letters such as this, steeped in almost breathtaking ignorance and appealing to low-grade fear tactics, only hurt the cause.

Ms. Trefts is right about one thing. The children of today are tomorrow’s leaders.

Let’s hope they learn to inform themselves on issues before spouting off about them in public forums.

Tom Cooper

Oakville