The Media's Problem With Christine O'Donnell

Unless you have been living under a rock, you are probably aware of all the media coverage devoted to something Christine O'Donnell said on Politically Incorrect about 10 years ago. Specifically, she talked about dabbling into witchcraft and going on a date with a witch. Sounds kind of weird, but nothing more than that, right?

Wrong. There has been a media uproar over the comments. Bill Maher, who hosted Politically Incorrect, mentioned that he has more clips of Christine O'Donnell from her appearance on the show. He plans on releasing them one a time, week by week. The specific clip in question has made the rounds on television and online.

But so what? I am sure Democrats are up in arms about this, claiming how this is evidence that Christine O'Donnell is an unsuitable Senate candidate. Or that she could not possibly be qualified to be a senator because of decisions she made in the past. But think about it. How exactly does that make her unqualified?

Let us take a closer look. She was interested in witchcraft. There should not be anything wrong with that. This is not a fringe religion. It is a misunderstood religion (I am certainly no expert) practiced by a minority of people. The 2001 American Religious Identification Survey, taken by the City University of New York, identified 134,000 people who identified as Wiccans.

We should not ostracize O'Donnell based on her interest in witchcraft. I think because Wicca is outside the Judeo-Christian realm, it becomes an easy target to mock and ridicule. People tend to have misconceptions about what they do not understand. Before criticizing O'Donnell, people should be educated in what they are commenting on.

Her previous religious practices should not even matter. A person's religion does not make them unqualified for holding public office. It is when you bring your religious views into how you legislate that problems arise. However, those are separate issues and is not relevant here. Her prior interest in witchcraft should not matter when it comes to her candidacy.

Next up: she went on a date with a witch. So what? O'Donnell said she was in high school when this occurred, meaning this happened over 20 years ago. We cannot equate her decision-making then with her decision-making now. People can change drastically over time, and O'Donnell is no exception. Her interest in witchcraft waned after she started college and she became an Evangelical Christian.

This should not be the major issue concerning Christine O'Donnell. She has said several over things I believe merit actual media scrutiny. However, I will not get into those. Hopefully the media can reverse course and pay attention to what really matters, because this does not.

Until next time, Orange Hat Guy