I am so sorry that I had to mention sin (the dreaded S-word) in my June 24 letter, but that really is the crux of the issue. Unfortunately, it is like waving a red flag in front of a bull to some people. But it is my job to sound the warning against sin because it is a matter of life and death for all of us, temporal as well as eternal. I do apologize to any and all who were annoyed, offended or emotionally shattered, but there are some people out there who want to kill all of us and not just hurt our feelings.

I will never cease to be amazed at the powerful blindness that is caused by sin. Some members of the LGBT community seem to view people, such as myself and Franklin Graham, as their greatest enemies rather than the Islamic terrorists who actually killed and physically injured around 100 of them in Orlando last month. They also seem to view the attack in Orlando as an attack on just them rather than on all of us. Never mind the attacks in Roseburg, Ore., San Bernardino, Calif., New York City and more too numerous to mention.

It is time for some people to deal with their tunnel vision, take their focus off of themselves, their sexual desires and gender identity for maybe a few minutes, stop acting like big babies, and take a look at the rest of the world which is falling down around all of us. Life is not always just about them.

The people who love others enough to warn them of the dangers of sin, not just sexual sin, and pray for them, while allowing them to make their own lifestyle choices, are not our enemies. It is those who have completely turned their lives over to Satan and want to kill us over not just sexual sin, but over how we eat, drink, dress, groom, speak and think, who are our enemies. And our enemies are no longer at the gate. We have been infiltrated, very successfully, and we are all vulnerable from NYC to Roseburg to San Bernardino to Orlando. No one knows where they will strike next, except God. He is our only shelter or defense, our only hope.

I do not see how anyone who knows how to read could possibly have interpreted my June letter as having said that the Orlando victims got what they deserved when I clearly stated the exact opposite. And I did request prayers for the Orlando victims and their families when I requested prayers for our whole nation. Yes, they were included. It is true that I did not write about how sad and tragic the Orlando deaths were because I thought that most people already understood that. Some things are, or should be, self evident, and to me the death of any human being is tragic regardless of his/her sexual orientation. That is why I write as I do.

Neither I, nor Franklin Graham, wrote the rules. We are just the messengers and we judge no one. But some day, each one of us will have to stand before the creator and ruler of the universe and give an accounting for how we lived our lives. On that final day the only defense for any of us will be the precious blood of Jesus, willingly shed to cover all of our sins.

Jane E. Peterson, Kirkland