I’m not one who complains about the extensive coverage of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by The Salt Lake Tribune. The church is the dominant player in Utah, in culture, politics, religion and almost everything else. The Tribune is correct in providing extensive coverage of those issues.
However, the recent piece by Holly Richardson is not information that we need. She argues (I assume) that the Book of Mormon and other church doctrine concerning “racists doctrine being included in LDS manuals” is not due to racism but rather the interpretation by LDS leaders and members influenced by the 19th and 20th culture in America. It does not matter if she is right or wrong.
What is wrong is that opinions about the validity of LDS (or other religions) doctrine should not be in The Tribune, whether or not the articles are in the news or the opinion section. Are we going to start reading columns examining the validity of the Book of Mormon the Old Testament or the Quran? How would one judge the accuracy of scriptures? There are numerous sources for those needed arguments, and they are far better suited to do so than the daily paper.
Larry S. Smith, Salt Lake City
