To toot my own horn for a minute about something similar (though not as widespread), I got another letter to the editor published in my town’s paper, and it was read on the air on a local talk radio station afterwhich people called in to comment.

Here’s the letter (they lopped off the introductory paragraph I had submitted along with the rest).

Letters to the Editor
Thursday, July 6, 2006

Double standard

For the past few months I?ve had a ?God is just pretend? bumper sticker on my car and many Dothan Christians have acted quite detestably. Some have flipped me off and others have yelled profanities at me. On the night of June 17, someone felt they had the right to destroy my bumper sticker. A friend of mine said the same things happened to him with regard to his Darwin emblem).

Do these Christians not realize that shouting profanities at others in public is wrong? Do they not realize that we are all supposed to respect other people?s property and leave it alone? Have they no common decency?

What if we test the ethics by reversing the parties. Would I be in the right if I, seeing a car with a Christian fish emblem on it, were to flip the bird or yell profanities at the car?s occupants? Or if that other person?s car were parked, would I be justified in ripping their emblem off? They?d be flaunting religious beliefs that I disagree with, so it would be OK – right?

No.

These Christians? double standards are morally reprehensible. Do they think I am not a ?real? human being and so don?t deserve the same kind of treatment they do?

Are only Christians allowed to express their religious views in Dothan?

Do we live in some sort of a functional theocracy imposed on us by city-roaming Christians?

Whatever happened to ?I don?t agree with what you say, but I?ll defend to the death your right to say it??
Oh that?s right – it wasn?t a Christian who said that.

Rick Pierson
Dothan

I contacted the radio station for a recording of the on-air discussion. Haven’t received it yet.

The speech will air on Sunday, July 9, 2006 at 10:00 AM ET. Check local listings. Ms. Johnson’s talk can be heard nationwide on C-SPAN radio outlets, or on the internet via http://www.c-spanradio.org and …

Concerning the Internet, do we have to listen to it live, or will it be recorded and saved somewhere on the C-Span radio site?

I followed the above link and the only textbox that allowed one to search didn’t work.

I think saw a link on that page for C-Span radio and followed it: still didn’t see anything that would allow a search.

Did I miss a way to search for recorded shows? Or must we listen to the broadcast live?

DNA
Good job on the transition from letter-to-editor to radio commentary!
What was the call-in response like after it aired?

karen:
DNA
Good job on the transition from letter-to-editor to radio commentary!

It was just by chance that someone at work happened to hear it read and discussed on the radio. She said that they occassionally read letters in the paper and then have listeners call in to comment. For all I know, one or more of my earlier letters to the editor that got printed months ago could also have been discussed on air.

karen: What was the call-in response like after it aired?

I didn’t hear it and haven’t received the recording from the station yet (they said they would mail it out Friday afternoon).

The lady at work who heard it read on air said that both pro- and anto-responses came in from listeners.

If there turne out to be any really way-out-there ones (like “they shouldn’t have just destroyed his bumper sticker, but him too!”), I’ll post them.