As a Brown professor of philosophy, I’m often inspired by BAM stories about alumni achievements.  Not so with the piece on Damon Owens ’88 (“Sex and God,” The Classes, September/October).

Owens, we learn, spends his time promoting the Vatican’s views on sexual morality, and has appeared on television “forcefully opposing same-sex marriage.” The BAM then describes him as preaching “a message of family values.”  What is the assumption here—that families with two moms, or two dads, don’t count?

It is often admirable for a person to stick up for what he or she believes in. But surely this depends in part on the content of those beliefs. I am disappointed the BAM would feature the activities of an alumnus who is devoting his energies to denying certain of his fellow citizens their basic civil rights.

David Christensen
Campus