Thoughts on Honesty by Grace Housholder

As editorial page editor for KPC's daily newspapers, I take very
seriously our mission to honestly help people try to understand opposing
viewpoints. It is impossible for any writer or editor to be truly unbiased ‹
we have to continually make decisions about what stories to cover, what
editorials to write, what quotes to include in those stories and editorials,
etc. Each decision reflects some type of bias. We editors try to be as
honest and careful as possible.
From what I have seen and read I believe Sen. Barack Obama is honestly
trying to help move America forward by finding what unites us so that we can
overcome some of the divisions of the past that have held us back as
individuals and as a nation. In his historic speech Tuesday Obama denounced
some of the highly controversial and "racist" comments of his former pastor,
the Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Obama has said he was not present when Rev. Wright
preached the sermons that contain the offensive comments that are flying
around the Internet.
If you want to see these clips put into context go to:

http://truthabouttrinity.blogspot.com/

Scroll down to the very bottom and watch the first two clips. They are
rather long, but they show why Rev. Wright said what he did.

Obama emphasized that he condemns many of the political statements made
by Wright, the former pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in south
Chicago. Obama said Wright¹s political statements express ³a distorted view
of this country.² Obama emphasized that he does not look to the man ³who
introduced me to my Christian faith² for political guidance and he urged
Americans to leave behind old prejudices and focus on what unites us.
At the church¹s Web site (tucc.org) the church says ³Trinity United
Church of Christ has been called by God to be a congregation that is not
ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ and that does not apologize for its
African roots! As a congregation of baptized believers, we are called to be
agents of liberation not only for the oppressed, but for all of God¹s
family...
³W.E.B. DuBois indicated that the problem in the 20th century was going
to be the problem of the color line. He was absolutely correct. Our job as
servants of God is to address that problem and eradicate it in the name of
Him who came for the whole world by calling all men, women, boys and girls
to Christ.²

I respect Obama for his honesty and courage. He lives out the concept
that "I may not agree with a word you say but I defend your right to say
it."
I don't know for sure when that idea was first expressed. In a quick
online search I found this: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend
to the death your right to say it." This quote is attributed to Voltaire.
Norbert Guterman, in his 1963 work, "A Book of French Quotations," suggests
that it is a paraphrase of a line in a letter written by Voltaire to M. le
Riche on 6 February 1770. "I detest what you write, but I would give my life
to make it possible for you to continue to write."