Posted by
Phil E. on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 3:29:44 AM
I'm probably flattering myself, but it almost seems as if Hugh Hewitt reads my posts and then, on his show, goes off and does the opposite thing. He's resurrected the "b" word and is going overboard promoting Mitt Romney using Salem Radio air time. Kind of perverse.
For example, I posted a few days ago that
I thought we were done using the word bigot to silence Mitt Romney's critics under the Left's guise of "hate speech." But there it was again on Monday's (January 15) show. I'll try to post on bigotry in the Bible later,
as I promised a long time ago. For now, doesn't Mr. Hewitt see that, with logic like his, calling for hate speech restrictions, the Christian church soon will be prohibited by law, as it now is in Canada, from preaching that homosexuality is a sin? Or any similar speech from Christians warning about sin and hell that others find "offensive." For now, let me say that the word "bigot" is more apropos for racial epithets, not religious ones.
For example, you can't choose your skin color, nor does your skin color have any direct bearing on your morals. So to say something like "All Whites are racist" is wrong and is a bigoted comment. However, you CAN choose your religion, and your religion can (and should) directly affect your morals. And your religion of choice affects your mind set. As if, say, you're in a cult.
Now, Mr. Hewitt has no problem poking fun of
Raelians.
Michael Medved has no
problem poking fun at Tom Cruise and his Scientology. And, on a very serious note, both of them
- and
probably you and me - are suspicious of Muslims on airplanes simply because of their religion. And
rightly so.
At issue was a comment by someone on the Washington Post website. Note that this was a comment by a visitor, NOT an article from a reporter, who said:
Now, I don't know how many Mormon's [sic] you know, but every one I have run
into is a crook. Nad please don't accuse me of over generalizing. I
really mean, all of them are crooks and swindlers, con artists,
nutjobs [sic], and lunies. If Mormon's [sic] are in the automtive [sic] industry you can
count on the fact that they roll odometers back (and I have personal
experience, having WITNESSED this). If they're in construction, they
will swindle anyone, even fellow poorer Mormons, out of their land and
homes. These are the scum of the earth sorts.
Now, this guy's entitled to his opinion, isn't he? And maybe this really is his experience. Who knows - maybe he's got a valid point? How many Mormons has he met compared to how many Mormons Mr. Hewitt has met? And maybe this guy runs into Mormons in everyday settings, with their hair down, so to speak. Whereas Mr. Hewitt arranges meetings with high level Mormons. Even President Ahmadinead would be on his best behavior in an artificial setting like that.
A joke about Mormons, who ostensibly do not drink alcohol, from Utah:
Q: How do you keep a Mormon from drinking all your beer at a picnic?
A: Invite two of them.
Jokes like this, and stereotypes that persist aren't without merit. They persist because there's some truth to them and they are funny because there's some truth to them. Are all Jews cheap? No. But if you see someone who is Jewish and they watch their pennies, then you can laugh. (My Jewish friend's mom often quoted Benjamin Franklin: "Watch the pennies and the dollars will take care of themselves.") Jesus warned about making quick judgements, and to say someone is engaged in hate speech without knowing all the facts is ... well, hateful.
Then I mentioned just yesterday how much PR Mr. Hewitt has given Mitt Romney. I still haven't gotten around to posting about yesterday's radio show with THREE Romney spots and today I hear Mr. Hewitt using his Salem Radio commentary segment to generate interest in Mitt Romney! (This was on a tape delayed feed. If it came over KRLA live, I missed it.)
Now, Mr. Hewitt is going to be selling a book about Mitt Romney. I can't remember if he disclosed that fact in his "commentary," but still, it isn't right. It's conflict of interest. Mr. Hewitt, a lawyer, knows that judges are prohibited from impropriety or even the appearance of impropriety. Further, Mr. Hewitt, as an elder in his church, knows (or should know) that elders are to be above reproach.
I don't think it's right for Mr. Hewitt to use his Salem Radio commentary air time to promote Mitt Romney when Mr. Hewitt has a vested interest in selling books about Mitt Romeny. Even with full disclosure about his book sale, it compromises the commentator. Mr. Hewitt wanted to silence someone for unpopular speech. Perhaps he should silence himself first?