John Edwards, som prøver å bli nominert som den demokratiske presidentkandidaten, har nå skapt en hel del diskusjon fordi han lar medlemmer av sin kampanjestab skrive de verste ting om katolikker og andre kristne på sine blogger. Det er tydelig at blogger mer og mer blir regnet som viktige i samfunnsdebatter.
Mange demokrater (i tillegg til mer konservative amerikanere) er blitt støtt av det som står i bloggene (og det står ting der som jeg ikke kunne tenke meg å trykke i min blog), Edwards selv er også bekymret, men han lar tydeligvis bloggerne fortsette:
Thursday, the campaign issued a statement from Edwards saying that he had been personally offended by the remarks and that the bloggers «have both assured me that it was never their intention to malign anyone’s faith, and I take them at their word.»
The campaign also sent out semi-apologetic statements from each blogger saying she was sorry if anyone was offended.
And so religious liberals find themselves in a quandary. They have no interest in associating with the likes of William Donohue, the Catholic League president who is closely aligned with the GOP and led the charge against Edwards’ aides. Donohue said Thursday he would take out newspaper advertisements attacking Edwards as anti-Catholic. But religious liberals also think Edwards’ aides merit more than a slap on the wrist.
“I thought his explanation was not satisfying,» said Cornell’s Penalver. «It’s obvious that they did mean to give offense.»
«You imagine a similar kind of comment directed at the Jewish community or at the gay community – something at this level of intentional offensiveness — and I have a hard time believing it gets resolved in the same way,» he said.
LES MER OM DETTE HER – OG PÅ Amy Welborns blog – en av de mest kjente katolske bologgene i USA.