The following is an open letter to Kevin T. Kabat, Vice-Chairman and CEO of Fifth Third Bank, a leading regional bank  in Cincinnati.

June 6, 2013, the 69^th anniversary of D-Day

Dear Mr. Kabat,

When I read that Fifth Third Bank is sponsoring the Homosexual Activists Sex Parade in Cincinnati this coming June 19, I emailed the appropriate contact on June 2.  Even though it was a Sunday, I received a computer-generated reply very shortly.  The form letter had this:  “Respect for all individuals is a core value of Fifth Third Bank. Fifth Third Bank respects all individuals, regardless of race, age, gender, religion or sexual orientation.  We are dedicated to demonstrating our commitment to diversity, including to its gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees and customers.”

A respected financial advisor has written:  “A question I have is why are they financing a parade whose central theme revolves around what kind of sex people enjoy.”  And why aren’t these funds being used instead to increase dividends so that shareholders can support whatever they want?

The issue has nothing to do with respect for all individuals.  No one is asking you to not employ or to disemploy men and women based on their sexual orientation.  What the issue is all about is whether certain activists can persuade this country to call sodomy a form of marriage.  What the issue is ultimately all about is whether God has a plan for love, marriage and sexuality, whether God has created man and woman to be complementary and to marry with the anticipation that their sexual union will yield babies, and whether God has created marriage as exclusively a male-female relationship.

No culture on earth has ever called sodomy “marriage.”  The biblical account tells us that there were many men practicing sodomy in the city from which it gets its name, but no one was calling it marriage.  It is very strange that a financial institution is using its resources and good name to intervene in this debate, and it is especially strange for it to back the side that wants to destroy the traditional concept of exclusively heterosexual marriage.

My request: please disengage immediately from your current stand.  Return to a state of neutrality in the culture wars.

I realize that I can close out my accounts at Fifth Third bank, but that is a lot of bother especially when some accounts have automatic connections for receipts and disbursements.  Thus I hope you will tell me that you agree that a publicly owned bank should not be using shareholders’ funds in this way and have returned to a state of neutrality regarding same-sex marriage.

Cordially,

John F. Kippley

If you would like to send a similar letter, here’s the postal address:

Mr. Kevin T. Kabat, Vice Chairman and CEO, Fifth Third Bank, 38 Fountain Square Plaza, Cincinnati OH 45263