In the comments section of the Salt Lake Tribune article, a lot of people are saying “no big deal” and “they didn’t break the law.”The LDS church has identified them as missionaries serving at that time in that location. Besides, one of the missionaries already delivered a handwritten note of apology. So they certainly aren’t denying it.
As I said, nobody ahould ever desecrate the place or items of worship of another. Shame on them. I am LDS and I have met missionaries that really should never have gone on a mission…they were way to immature and really did not care about the church. Shame on these guys. There are many many missionaries out there that would NEVER do anything like this. You will find the “bad apples” in EVERY group, church etc.
Shame on those too who say “no big deal”
Disgusting.
The SL Trib always uses “alleged” until the accused have been tried and found, well, guilty, or innocent…ya know, the whole innocent until proven guilty ideal. I agree that it is the right way to go.
Certainly, using “allegedly” in reference to the damage is appropriate (breaking the head off the statue of the saint). Although these missionaries will have to explain why the original photobucket description read "‘having broken off the head of a saint.’ That certainly looks like an admission of guilt.
Personally, I don’t find the basic principles of freedom in the Bill of Rights to be ridiculous.
You are right. However, the newspaper opens itself up for trouble in this “sue happy” world if it outright says they did it. How many cases have there been where we know someone is guilty - it is OBVIOUS they are guilty - and until it is “proven” they continue to be referenced as “allegedly guilty”? Too many to count…
I agree. The SL Trib got into some legal trouble, years ago, for reporting criminal activity, where names were taken and published as the people doing the crime. As it turns out, the people the Trib named as perpetrating the crime were found innocent in court. They sued the Trib and won. Since then, the SL Trib always have “alleged” in there, as do the local news stations.
I do not find the basic principles of freedom in the Bill of Rights to be ridiculous. I never said I did. What I find ridiculous is the amount of time, money and grief that are spent on something where you know what the outcome will be. I also beleive that seemingly ridiculous at times, the system works (though there is a small percentage where it does not…that is another topic
). It is far from perfect, but the legal system we have is better than alot of places. There are way too many who abuse it though…(again - another thread for that…)As a Catholic, I am much less concerned with the physical vandalism (breaking heads off saint statues) than I am with the mockery and desecration evident in the photos.
You are right. However, you are not a national newspaper or organization that has to watch out for that kind of technicality when printing a story or making a stement.
