Sentinel & Enterprise Editor: "We run a wide variety of columnists who are all over the political spectrum.."

Bernard Goldberg, in his book "Arrogance: Rescuing America from the Media Elite," notes how, "Quite simply, when it comes to gay issues, once again ideological journalism routinely fails the public - tilting the news of highly complex issues mainly to one side almost as a matter of course.  Once again, as with stories involving race or gender, narrow-interest pressure groups both inside and outside the newsroom are accorded special deference and respect.  And yes, once again it is liberal sympathizers, in this case straight ones, who help enforce the code, branding those who dissent from the approved liberal position as morally flawed..."  And, referring to those who oppose homosexuality because of their religious convictions, Goldberg writes, "I don't think someone is a homophobe just because he or she thinks that way - or, for that matter, honestly disagrees with some of the other items on the gay agenda.  More to the point, as it pertains to journalism, I think those people deserve a full, fair, and equal hearing.  The fact is, the gay agenda demands a fundamental shift in the way we've thought about sex and morals for a very, very long time.  It literally seeks to wipe away several thousand years of social and religious tradition.  So it would be crazy for us not to have a free and open debate about its consequences.  Yet what we most often see instead in the media is the sort of name-calling that wouldn't be tolerated on a playground.  Even traditionalist religious leaders and respected conservative social commentators regularly get called bigots for doing nothing more than upholding the tenets of their faith." (Arrogance, pp. 167, 168-169).

In this past Sunday's Sentinel & Enterprise, Bonnie Toomey categorized religious believers as being "stuck in the 20th century."  The implication being that those who adhere to the tenets of their faith tradition are somehow backward and "behind the times."  In addition, Ms. Toomey implied that it is this "backward thinking" which is responsible for "the many ugly stories involving harassment, mistreatment and even homicide."

I answered Ms. Toomey's asinine article in my last post.  What is most interesting is that a reader of this Blog contacted the editor of the Sentinel & Enterprise - Mr. Charles St. Amand -  to address her concerns regarding Ms. Toomey's article and he responded by asserting that the newspaper runs "a wide variety of columnists who are all over the political spectrum - left, right and center" and that he welcomes "letters and guest columns from..readers and community leaders on all topics."  This comes as a complete surprise to me.  For I have submitted guest columns and op-ed pieces in the past dealing with the issue of homosexuality and same-sex "marriage" and these have never seen the light of day.  Years ago, another Sentinel editor - Ann Connery Frantz - would routinely mock my views as she informed me that the paper would not be publishing them.

Does such an attitude represent a "full, fair and equal hearing"?  A fellow Catholic Blogger has written about the Worcester Telegram & Gazette's bias with regard to the issue of homosexuality.  See here.

Journalistic integrity or radical homosexual agenda?  You decide.

Related reading here

Former Newsweek editor slams New York Times for creating its "own version of the scandal."

Kenneth Woodward, Newsweek's former religion editor, said that the New York Times has not been fair in its recent attempts to link the Pope with Church sex abuse cover up. See here. That's really putting it mildly. The New York Times is guilty of calumny. So too is Father James Scahill*. And it is time for Father Scahill to issue an apology to our Holy Father for this calumny and to the entire Church for his blasphemous assertion that the Catholic Church - the Mystical Body of Christ Jesus - is "insidiously evil."

Throughout all of this ugly hate campaign directed against Pope Benedict XVI, our Holy Father has been [ and this doesn't surprise me in the least] a shining example of humility and grace. It was the great Saint Francis de Sales who advised, "If you are falsely accused, excuse yourself meekly, denying your guilt, for so much you owe to truth and the edification of your neighbor. But if, after your true and honest excuse, your accusers persist, give yourself no further trouble, and do not persevere in your defense, for having paid tribute to truth, now pay tribute to humility."


* See here.

Related reading: Will VOTF, the anti-Catholic dissent group, apologize for its calumny?