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I get tired of people telling me that I'm not allowed to discuss morality. There exists a modern philosophy that presupposes that there cannot be one truth because each of us learn morality independently. Moral relativism drives a lot of the criticisms against bringing up religion and morality that are essentially forced into the dialogue when ever an ethical dilemma presents itself.
Look...I'm sorry if this offends, but when I encounter an ethical dilemma, I solve it the best way I know how...through my FAITH. The very reason religion exists is to help us solve moral and ethical problems we encounter in every day life. Josh Lueke is getting this much attention in Seattle because there is TREMENDOUS cognitive dissonance between various groups of people about how best to address the ethical/moral dilemma of what to do with someone in Lueke's position.
My morality - my RELIGION - (and I came to my faith very slowly and without parental instruction by reading the scholarly works of various theologians and philosophers, so I feel like I've "earned" my certainty in certain truths) tells me it si unequivocally wrong to persecute a man for a crime before we know beyond all doubt that he is guilty of that crime. No matter what, we have to err on the side of caution when it comes to the language we choose when describing something like the Lueke case. Baker seems to think it's perfectly OK to continuously, unendingly attack Josh Lueke every chance he gets simply because Lueke plead no contest and "accepted responsibility." That is immoral...and no, I won't accept the concept that there is a valid morality which makes that OK. There are some things that are just right or just plain old wrong and this is one of those things that I believe is just plain old wrong.
So did the founding fathers of this great country. Innocent until proven guilty is not just a catch phrase...it defines our essential morality.
And oh BTW, I think Baker deeply violates his own (speaking amorally for a second) journalistic ethics when he has an obvious agenda in the news he reports. Baker himself does NOT DENY that he has an agenda. No news reporter should ever...EVER...have a personal agenda coloring his stories...when you report the news, you have a responsibility not just to report things that are true (Baker has not lied in any of his columns) but to report the whole story from all angles and to be objective in doing so. Baker's agenda is clear...use Josh Lueke is exhibit A in his case against the Mariner front office...attack the Mariners at all costs until they submit to his demands for accountability. That's not what a journalist is supposed to do.
So not only does Baker act immorally when he rips at Lueke five times a day in his web column to make sure that wound never heals...he's also unethical as a journalist, in my opinion.
Journalistic agendas explain many of the evils in mainstream media reporting...from the national "get Obama elected!" push that resulted in a president who was COMPLETELY unqualified for the job and is proving to be among our most ineffectual leaders EVER (thanks to his never being asked a tough question by members of the press in public while McCain was grilled even on the most routine of appearances) to the environmental movement which is slowly but sure producing draconian legislation designed to tell us all how to live. If I can tell what your agenda is as a reporter...then you've FAILED as a reporter.
We do all have agendas...it's impossible to be 100% objective...but the first rule of journalism I learned (I did take one course...I'm not a journalist, but if this rule is the first thing they teach you in Journalism 101...then failing to live by it is the worst kind of failure)...was that if you have an opinion on an issue you're covering, you should investigate your opposition first. In other words...if you think Josh Lueke is guilty of raping that girl...you should talk to Josh Lueke, his coaches, his teammates, and anyone else you can who can tell you more about who he is and report on that first. Challenge yourself and your world view every time you write something that will be seen as official media (I don't have to work as hard when I post to a blog...this is just people talking...no one will mistake what I say for the incontravertable truth the way they might with what appears in the Seattle Times).
Baker is cmofortable with how he's acted regarding Lueke...he shouldn't be...and that's a shame.