Bill O is not Responsible for Tiller's Death
Sent to Journal Sentinel
re: 'Why O'Reilly's words matter', Friday, June 12, 2009
Dear Editor,
Mary Alice Carr recently claimed that Bill O'Reilly's "words incite violence" and thus he is responsible for the vicious murder of Dr. George Tiller. O'Reilly is a hotheaded loon, but his condemnations were not calls for vigilante violence. It sets a dangerous precedent to hold a commentator responsible for violence when he did not call for such acts, a precedent that would actually apply to Mary Alice Carr herself. If a Tiller supporter should, after reading Carr's condemnation of O'Reilly, avenge against those perceived responsible for Tiller's death, should we hold Carr responsible for the murder of Bill O? Obviously not, for the same reasons that O'Reilly is not responsible for Tiller.
Chad Van Schoelandt
[UPDATE: The letter was accepted: http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/48109627.html]
re: 'Why O'Reilly's words matter', Friday, June 12, 2009
Dear Editor,
Mary Alice Carr recently claimed that Bill O'Reilly's "words incite violence" and thus he is responsible for the vicious murder of Dr. George Tiller. O'Reilly is a hotheaded loon, but his condemnations were not calls for vigilante violence. It sets a dangerous precedent to hold a commentator responsible for violence when he did not call for such acts, a precedent that would actually apply to Mary Alice Carr herself. If a Tiller supporter should, after reading Carr's condemnation of O'Reilly, avenge against those perceived responsible for Tiller's death, should we hold Carr responsible for the murder of Bill O? Obviously not, for the same reasons that O'Reilly is not responsible for Tiller.
Chad Van Schoelandt
[UPDATE: The letter was accepted: http://www.jsonline.com/news/opinion/48109627.html]
posted by Chad Van Schoelandt | 11:16 AM
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