S-R wrong to publish error

In his April 10 column, Gary Crooks writes that “anyone who takes the time to express an opinion and put their name on it deserves respect.” I disagree. Writers and editors who purposefully or inadvertently propagate error deserve no respect. While each is entitled to his or her opinion, they are not entitled to their own facts.

For instance, in Friday’s letters, Douglas Benn argues America should return to our Christian roots. Benn says he is quoting the Constitution when he writes that we are “endowed by our Creator with certain inalienable rights” as evidence of purported Christian roots.

His first error is these words are from the Declaration of Independence. The second error is these are not the words of a Christian. Thomas Jefferson was, along with Washington, Franklin and many other founding fathers, a Deist, believing in a Creator, but not in the God of Christianity.

The third error was in either knowingly publishing a falsehood or that the error was not noticed. Aristotle says ethos arises from the good man communicating a good message. Benn may well be a good man, but his argument is not. Similarly, The Spokesman-Review’s ethos is undermined by printing such obvious errors.

Bradley Bleck

Spokane