Buttars and Hypocrisy

Also from Last Saturday's Salt Lake Tribune: 2 Letters to the Editor

Hypocrisy at its finest
Before entering the Jan. 16 Martin Luther King Jr. memorial luncheon, where he was among the presenters, a man whose bigotry recently made international headlines chose to physically intimidate a KSL radio reporter (“Brokeback Mountain: Jazz owner speaks,” Tribune, Jan. 17).

On a day set aside to honor the father of our modern civil rights movement - an inclusive social justice activist steadfastly devoted to the principles of non-violence - our own Larry H. Miller managed to encapsulate the image of an intolerant playground bully, and did so en route to the fallen civil rights leader's memorial luncheon, where he, Mr. Miller, was to present an award. Hypocrisy at its finest.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., after whom many a scholarship program has been named, urged us to “make a career of humanity.” In light of Mr. Miller's recent actions, I can't help but wonder what he hopes to inspire. What is it, exactly, that Larry H. Miller would have his scholarship recipients aspire to - intolerance and physical intimidation? Grace A. McDonough Salt Lake City

Buttars has no morals
I was shocked by the Jan. 22 Tribune article touting West Jordan Republican Sen. Chris Buttars as a “morals crusader.” I have never witnessed such a misnomer in all my young life. Sen. Buttars does not stand for morals. He stands for religion, which is an entirely different subject. He does not respect, support or befriend his neighbors, as his religion admonishes him to do. Indeed, he does not do as his Savior instructs him, to love one another.

This is the man who claims that all homosexuals are immoral, when I highly doubt he has ever really listened to a homosexual in his life. His views are archaic and infantile, much like the bully on the playground who only likes those who are exactly as he is.

I am deeply offended that Sen. Buttars truly believes that I, and others in the LGBT community, have no morals. We most certainly do. We have families and successful children. We pay taxes, sit on juries, buy houses, go to PTA and Neighborhood Watch meetings, donate time and money to charity, and even go to church. A great many of us have found spirituality and faith in God, and we live our lives in a very moral fashion. He, on the other hand, does not, simply by refusing to live his religion and save judgment for his Maker.

Shame on The Tribune for classifying this man as someone who is doing this out of “moral conviction.” He is a bigot, and there is no skirting the truth behind his so-called conviction. He doesn't stand for moral values. He stands for hate.
Connie A. Anast Murray