Hatchet Man Chops Own Credibility

We acknowledge that newspapers should be the last line of defense for free speech. It’s also true that columnists are supposed to enlighten, entertain and ideally even inspire.

But Lucas Roebuck, the Northwest Arkansas Times’ new managing editor, did none of these with his March 21 editorial. What he likely did accomplish, however, was to alienate readers of all faiths who don’t share his extremist views.

Normally, we’d applaud a columnist who dares to skirt political correctness and express a heartfelt opinion. Roebuck sort of did that, but his sweeping criticism of Mayor Dan Coody and all religious beliefs other than his own make us question Roebuck’s credibility.

Roebuck’s remarks included saying that Buddhists and Muslims face “eternal damnation,” that Hindus are “incorrect” and that former Mayor Fred Hanna kept his prayer breakfasts Judeo-Christian-based because Hanna “didn’t want to pay lip service to God.”

The implication is that Coody does pay religious lip service, because he chose to invite people of all faiths to his prayer breakfasts. Since Roebuck said it would be “eternally useless” to join people of other faiths in this public meeting, we can’t help but wonder how much his views dovetail into his professional life.

Will Roebuck be able to objectively edit a story about Coody? Will the managing editor listen to a reader who doesn’t share his beliefs? Would Roebuck compromise a story to protect a fellow evangelical Christian or to promote his own beliefs?

At this point, we’re not sure.

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For the record, the Business Journal has on occasion, and will in the future, cover religion as it relates to local business. We have no religious stance as a publication. Our function is to provide local business news that interests and informs executives and decision makers in Northwest Arkansas.

Any story source or subject with insight on local industries is always welcome at our table — whether they’re Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist, atheist or agnostic.