The Latest From the Audacious Dean of Trinity

Paul Zahl, the Dean of Trinity School for Ministry, Ambridge, who recently likened the election of a gay bishop to a terrorist bomb and compared those with whom he disagrees to steamrolling brownshirts now has the audacity to lecture us on the ethics of blogging:

The ethics of blogging need to be addressed.

A couple of serious, bad things are happening:

First, character assassination has become routine on blog sites, both liberal and conservative. People are saying and implying things, without substantiation or information, about personalities, and this comes under an old category: libel. The English newspapers were the ‘90s equivalent of today’s blog threads, and a number of successful prosecutions for libel made them more hesitant to make personal attacks on the front page. Those papers are still up to it, but they check their stories now.

A lot of what we are reading on the blog threads comes under the heading of libel. This needs to change. I believe we all know that...

Hmmm...do I hear a veiled threat?

libel:
A false publication, as in writing, print, signs, or pictures, that damages a person's reputation.

The act of presenting such material to the public.

The written claims presented by a plaintiff in an action at admiralty law or to an ecclesiastical court.

The problem, Dean Zahl, is the accusations against you are not false. And, in regards to character assasination, it appears you don't need anyone else's help to shoot yourself in the foot.

Dean Zahl made some unfortunate statements that appeared on the net. When he was informed of the inappropriateness of his images, he did not offer any apology. Consequently, his poor choice of words continue to be challenged.

The veiled threat of libel sounds like an attempt to take the heat off of his own personal errors. Couching it in an “ethical” argument does not alter the fact that Dean Zahl has recently added much fuel to the fire.

If he wants his ethical argument to be taken seriously, I think he needs to begin by cleaning up his own house.

J.