No argument

I must admit I was very wary of another tabloid weekly to be added to our local market. However, I have found The Hook to be insightful, witty, and reader-friendly. I especially enjoyed the March 28 edition and its exposé on the third Bodo's location. The article had just the right mix of whimsy, fact, and rumor to make reading about such a widely discussed topic intriguing.
    However, I found the last page's opinion piece to be stultifying and juvenile. I have read a lot of stupid things on the last pages of your paper and that of your competitors. This essay [“I believe… that celibacy doesn’t have a prayer”] transcended rationality with such blanket statements as, "I don't know why any Catholic would give $5 to the church," or "always, conservatives stand for catastrophe."
I am a liberal Protestant who believes that the requirement of celibacy is an historical misinterpretation of true Christian doctrine. Yet, if I were a Catholic, this article would have made me feel even more righteous in my defense of celibacy. This opinion piece did not do anything to help enlighten me as a person of faith about why this policy should be changed.
    In his essay James Breslin shows no sense of the sacred, the divine, or the holy that has been passed on to us through our traditions. I understand if he feels that all of that is as real as Mr. Roger's land of make-believe. However, being disrespectful and making blanket statements is the least persuasive way I know of making an argument.
    If you can find smart, witty, and intelligent people here in Charlottesville to write such excellent articles as the Bodo's story, why can you not find such people across the country to write intelligent, thought-provoking essays?
Thank you for your paper and all it provides as a resource for the greater Charlottesville-Albemarle area.

Matthew J. Lind
Charlottesville