Reza Salami letters: We're taking a break
With the exception of one or two letters that came in before Christmas and needed trimming or other changes by their authors, we're taking a break on letters, pro and con, that respond to N.C. A&T professor Reza Salami's complaints that a Guilford sheriff deputy's patrol car contained a sign proclaiming Jesus as "your Savior."
It has been a robust discussion, although it was disheartening to see some people veer from the issue of the sign's appropriateness to attacks on Salami.
The reason we suspend publication of letters in a case such as this is the discussion runs its course, and no new views or ideas surface.
Expect a second wave of letters, however. The professor has a court date later this month, thus there will be fresh developments on which readers can comment..
You should see some of the letters we didn't publish.
Comments (7)
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It's your toybox, Allen, so you can do with it what you please. But I think it's a mistake to cut off letters on the Reza Salami debate.
While letter-writers may be making the same points, the volume of letters indicates the level of public interest in a particular point-of-view. For example, if you get 100 letters saying "I believe such-and-such," that's far more powerful than if you received one letter, even if all 100 letters make essentially the same point.
Sometimes, I think the media makes too big a deal over providing opposing viewpoints. If, say, 98 percent of people speak in favor of a proposal and 2 percent speak against it, do those viewpoints deserve the same weight and treatment?
As for the controversy in question, I'm much more worried about Dr. Salami's drinking and driving than I am about some sticker on a police car.
Posted on January 3, 2008 12:58 PM
I see your point. That's why we ran dozens of such letters before pulling the plug ... .
The volume of letters about a subject reflect the intensity of interest in that subject and the number of letters we run on a topic should indicate that.
As for Salami drinking while driving, he may have been but there is no proof.
He was ticketed for driving with open alcohol containers in his car.
And his blood alcohol content was below the legal limit.
It'll be interesting to see how his day in court plays out.
Posted on January 3, 2008 1:23 PM
I agree with Allen. It's time to drop the Salami and get back to business as usual on these blogs...
Baloney!
Posted on January 3, 2008 3:54 PM
How do you spell relief..."NO MORE SALAMI!"
Thanks Allen for cutting it off. It's the same argument that has been around for centuries, and will continue for many more centuries.
Thank God, I believe in the trinity. And that's all I've got to say on that issue.
Posted on January 4, 2008 12:53 PM
Thanks,
All has been said that needs to be said.
Posted on January 4, 2008 1:14 PM
Why not just print a running tally of the pro- and anti-Salami letters, perhaps with sub-tallies of the talking points attached? E.g.:
Anti-Salami (14): darned Muslims (6); Christian nation/founders (11); decay of American culture (8); shouldn't have been drinking and driving (5); what's this world coming to? (7)
Pro-Salami (10): not a Christian (10); freedom of religion (or other Bill of Rights citation) (7); Christian taliban (4); what's this world coming to? (5)
Posted on January 4, 2008 2:09 PM
As usual, an interesting idea, Brian. We've also considered publishing additional letters on our Web site only, as The New York Times does.
Posted on January 4, 2008 2:15 PM