It is interesting that ALL of the so-called Christian
publications criticizing me have not called me for comment first. These “Christians” prefer to execute uninformed judgment. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t
judge—judge we all must if we are to discern good
from evil, but please, judge armed with information.
Here’s where it gets interesting: I’m getting hate
mail—some of it very disturbing—from people who
are incited by commentary from sources like Mr.
LaBarbera, who do NOT want their audience to read
what I said but prefer to tell them what THEY think I
meant. Very un-Christian, in my opinion.
QI am a new subscriber to this site and am stunned
at what passes for “diversity” here. I found the
situation with Peter LaBarbera particularly distasteful.
While he may or may not be an “extremist,” particularly
in the eyes of some of the other panelists that were
invited to the forum, to shut him out is utterly indefensible. That is exactly the type of thinking that the other
“progressive” panelists are allegedly fighting against.
Forums that shut out “extremist” LGBT and minority
views years ago were OK by this reasoning,
and for other groups to shun the inclusion
of LGBT, Black, Hispanic or Asian guests and
participants must also be an acceptable
practice by these standards. I guess this is
the type of thing I should expect from a
columnist and web site with a forum titled
“Ask the White Guy.” (As a white guy, I find
that offensive in this context.) Christian
values are no less important and no less
worth protecting than any other human
rights. The final sentence in Mr. Visconti’s
column of it being “good to know what
your enemies are thinking” is reprehensible
and extremely insensitive.
last minute. I’m not sure more time would have made
a difference. How do you find a “less offensive” person
in this area? It’s like finding a less offensive Klansman
to speak to a panel of civil-rights advocates. There
ARE certain conditions that many people find almost
impossible to overcome.
Please understand that it was my desire to have
Mr. LaBarbera live, not out of a sense of “fairness”
but to air him out in the sunshine. In a room of intellectual and passionately religious people, without
his self-supporting chorus, his evil would have been
clearly exposed. This has an immense value. Using
my Klan analogy, most people passively supporting
segregation would not feel good after hearing Bull
Connor live for a while. It took the Pettus Bridge,
when Southerners (and the rest of the world) got a
belly full of seeing people shot with fire hoses and bit
by dogs, to create a change of heart in many people
“going along to get along.” It is my goal to get that
change moving in hetero people who don’t think this
is their fight. In my opinion, it’s every good American’s fight.
Jim McGeown
aYou use the words “reprehensible,”
“offensive” and “utterly indefensible” (when I gave Mr. LaBarbera a whole
page unedited to express himself, a benefit not
given to any other panelist) and you expect what?
[Read LaBarbera’s comments at www.DiversityInc.
com/column]
There were people on the panel who were VERY
religious. I wish they would have had the stomach to
hear Mr. LaBarbera out in person. I would have liked
to replace him, but the whole panel fell apart at the
Like Connor, LaBarbera feeds the dark side in some
people, as evidenced from the vicious e-mail I’m receiving that comes from anonymous or closed e-mail
accounts. In my opinion, denying people their own
orientation and civil rights is evil and it won’t stand.
By the way, I’m absolutely NOT putting your e-mail
in the “vicious” category; I have enjoyed our dialogue.
It would be no fun if everyone was “compliant.”
