OK, I agree -- it probably doesn't make any more sense for liberals to blame conservative talk show hosts for the shootings in Knoxville than it did for Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell to blame liberals for the attacks on 9/11. Enough with the finger-wagging already. Stilll there is something profoundly wrong with the soul of this nation, and until we teach ourselves how to come together armed with something other than firearms and righteous indignation...
But lets face it . Subtlety is not exactly the forte of talk radio. Nor, for that matter, is intelligent discourse, ambiguity of opinion, sophisticated analysis, or just plain old common courtesy. If we value these characteristics, we need to look to a forum which is not only willing to "speak the truth to power," but also "to preach the truth in love." In short, we need to look to the traditional strengths of the free pulpit, and those values of freedom, reason and tolerance that have historically characterized "Our Liberal Movement in Theology."
Voices like those of my colleagues
Victoria Weinstein,
Gary Kowalski,
Dan Harper,
Candace Chellew-Hodge
and finally Annette Marquis, District Executive of the Thomas Jefferson District (TJD) of the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA).
For those of you not already following this thread on the UU Blogosphere, enjoy!
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I don't believe that the comparison holds. Noting liberals or gays or anyone else could have said would have encouraged those who committed the 9-11 crimes. But the radical right commentators have constantly based the liberal view, they have demeaned liberals, and they have suggested that the world would be better without us.
Obviously, the rhetoric was not meant to be taken literally, but it was taken literally by one desperate person. And I'm sure there are other desperate people who could take action to relieve their frustrations.
I cannot fully agree. Anne Coulter and her ilk definitely have blood on their hands, in my opinion.
The blood not only of these UUs, but of people like the 25-yr-old Mexican guy beaten to death by a pack of drunken teenage jocks in Pennsylvania last week. Yes, he was an illegal immigrant. He was also the father of two young children and worked two jobs, and planned to return to Mexico soon with his family. He tried to walk away, according to witnesses, and called his friends on his phone to tell them he was being threatened. They arrived in time to try to pull the pack of teens off of him, but not in time to save him.
Every right wing hate monger who has publicly foamed at the mouth about illegals has contributed to his death.
You don't need to be wearing the tinfoil hat to get the hate-filled message.
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