In a desperate, disingenuous attempt to save her religion from its inherent bigotry, Salt Lake Tribune columnist Michelle Quist pitches the blatant lie that “love our neighbors as ourselves” is “the new commandment.”

“New”? Not at all.

Mormon Jesus (or God the Father, depending on the Christian sect) first issued his “love thy neighbor” commandment in the Old Testament (Leviticus 19:18), not the New.

That’s just a few verses before the same Lord also commanded that gay lovers “shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them” (Leviticus 20:13).

Yes, I, too, just quoted scripture. Quist’s scripture. Mormon scripture. Christian and Jewish scripture, too.

And in Mormonism and trinitarian Christianity, both decrees were the perfect commandments of a perfect, omnibenevolent deity. Jesus/God is never wrong.

So, once again: With “love” like that, who needs hate?