On election night, some two dozen supporters of Protect Marriage Maine, which opposes gay marriage, gathered in the conference room of Lewiston’s Ramada Inn to await the outcome of Question 1. According to a Sun Journal report (Nov. 7), the watch party began high-spiritedly, and as the group was informed of favorable town-by-town voting results by Pastor Bob Emrich, the campaign’s co-chairman, the mood of jubilation redoubled with cheers and applause.

But when results began to trend in favor of the opposition, the group grew quiet and uneasy; and as hopes dwindled, people left. Toward the end of it, only a steadfast few remained — among them, the Bible-toting, ever-sanguine Rev. Doug Taylor, who was, no doubt, hoping against hope for an 11th hour miracle, which never showed.

On the issue of gay marriage, Taylor gave the Sun Journal reporter to understand that “the opposition to traditional marriage are slaves to sin. My sympathy goes out to them and so do my prayers.”

Taylor likes to shoot straight from the lip, and so do I, which is why I want to say in reply that he himself is a slave to obscurantism, offering prayers to the endless reaches of space on behalf of a people who couldn’t care less.

William LaRochelle, Lewiston