Letter-writer Michael Eppers ["What about 'pandering' to the anti-gay right?" July 6] says that he does not understand how gay marriage could ruin this country.

Mr. Eppers says that the sentiment that gay marriages will destroy America is "completely false and downright ludicrous."

A quote by Vladimir Lenin sums it up best, "Destroy the family, destroy the country."

It isn't about pandering to Christians' fears about gay marriage, but the fear of many people, not just Christians, that by allowing gay marriage the family unit is destroyed.

Looking back at other great civilizations, their downfall often occurred at the same time family life was coming apart as well (Greece and Rome are two prime examples).

Traditional family values built this country. We can trace the dependency of the people on the government if we look back to the New Deal programs (FDR), the use of no-fault divorce (thank you, Reagan), the increase of unwed mothers, and single-parent homes.

The dependency on government instead of families creates socialism, which brings us full circle back to Lenin. His goal was to destroy capitalism. It seems we are doing a good job of it ourselves.

Victoria L. Dehlbom

Spotsylvania