Jay, I am glad you returned safely from the Middle East.  I’m afraid that long ago I decided that I could not resolve the crisis there so I’ll let your comments speak for themselves.

On another front, I know you were an open, early and ardent support of former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney in his unsuccessful run for the Republican Presidential nomination.  Personally, I believe that one reason he did not get further in that process was because of sheer bigotry against members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  Now, I believe that this nasty sentiment has reared its head again, this time in Colorado Springs, home to Focus On the Family.

It seems that Focus did an interview with talk show host Glenn Beck before the holiday season of 2008 and had it posted on its website.  The interview was primarily about Beck’s latest book, The Christmas Sweater.  It was up for a while.  Then it disappeared.  It seems that some evangelicals didn’t like Beck’s well-known Mormon ties tainting the “purely” Christian Focus homepage.  The complaints were predictable: Mormons believe in a “different” god and a “different” Jesus.

Now, don’t get me wrong. If I never saw or heard of Glenn Beck again, it would be just fine with me.  He is an insufferable character who does a bone-headed show in which his distaste for everybody he doesn’t like comes through nightly.  (I know, I just insulted him too, but I don’t do it every day.)  However, his extreme right-wing positions and ignorance mirror what often comes out of Focus itself.  They didn’t decide he was in error on  policy matters; they just got nervous because of his religion.  Focus now says that they “merely miscalculated on how best to feature” Beck, not that they were trying to be insulting.

I find this explanation ludicrous and unsupportable.  What they “miscalculated” was how hostile their core constituency can get.  Let this be a warning to them.  Next December, if Ann Coulter comes out with a book called The Christmas Mini-Skirt, they’d better vet the purity of her theology before interviewing her.