Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Firestorm Over My Tribune Letter

This morning the Salt Lake Tribune finally ran my letter to the editor under the title "Suicide and Sodomy," and as of right now (10:30 a.m. Mountain) it's the most-viewed link on the Trib site, with nearly 100 comments and, apparently, an overall negative ranking by voters.

I haven't even started reading the comments yet, but I will get to it soon. I'm sure my skin will be quite a bit thicker when I get through it...

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Geez Chris, I couldn't get past page 2 of the comments. You were kind to call it a "fire"storm.

Perhaps next time submit to Deseret News? Maybe then you'd have a better mix of respondents.

Unknown said...

Last time I checked, weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth is the expected result when something right is said in front of the wrong.

Anonymous said...

You must be so proud.

Unknown said...

David-

Remember that movie scene I discussed with you from Return of the King? The fellowship might be outnumbered on every side by Orcs my friend, but when the cause you are fighting for is bigger than one hobbit and a ring, those who have pledged their lives to it don't surrender when the odds are against them. They circle back to back with their swords drawn and fight to the end.

Christopher Bigelow said...

Comments are now nearing 500, with lots of nasty ones directed at me personally. But I feel a sense of calm and peace about it, and I even went in and tried to respond to a few reasonable questions or comments. I find I'm not bothered at all by the poisonous comments, for some reason--some of them even made me laugh with genuine amusement.

A few years from now, it may not be safe to say anything even remotely "homophobic" without endangering one's personal safety.

Unknown said...

500? You're darn well a celebrity by Utah standards! My favorite hobby is watching the liberals who think conservatives are biased and offensive try not to spit while they scream at someone else. Ironic...doncha think? *It's like raaaaaaaaaaaaaain on your wedding day...*

Anonymous said...

Chris,

Didn't you once tell us this was an ALANIS FREE zone?

I had pretty much the same feeling on Nine Moons with my "My Girl Bill" entry, except I didn't expect such venom and so much of it. There must be armies of pro-gay noisemakers waiting in the wings for any LDS mention on the subject. After the initial novelty, it just became wearying.

What did disappoint and surprise me the most was the number of members who were at odds with the Church. I couldn't believe we were fed from the same pulpit.

Anonymous said...

Interesting response letter Chris - glad to see the Trib actually published it. I saw a similar response when I sent in a letter to my local paper a few years back, only 'online comments' didn't exists yet, so they were in the form of response letters to the opinion page. What intrigued me in both cases is how people seem to associate condemnation of sodomy with support of committing hate crimes.

indymartin said...

Interesting timing with the whole Pelosi/Abortion firestorm this week. Excellent Tribune letter. Looks like rank and file "Catholics," just like rank and file "Mormons" need to learn true doctrine. Kudos to you and the Archbishop for clearly and compassionately spelling out that somethings are quite simply sins...no matter how politically incorrect the issue may be.

Unknown said...

Just checked back to see what your final tally was? Did you have to be sequestered in a local burn unit to survive? *g*

Hopin all is well!