Alone and Unobserved

A friend forwarded a Washington Post article to me today which discusses the negative reception to the Mormon church’s plans to build a meetinghouse with a 105-foot steeple on 16th Street in Washington D.C. This friend, a fellow ex-Mormon, emphasized the insensitivity of the Mormons to local architecture and atmosphere—an insensitivity that has been demonstrated elsewhere—but what struck me instead about the article was the unprofessional bias on the part of the writer, Paul Schwartzman, and the pettiness of the complaints he turned up. There may be a real controversy about this Mormon meetinghouse, and even about the steeple height, but Schwartzman apparently interviewed the wrong people.

• Schwartzman claims the proposed 105-foot steeple (“the equivalent of 10 stories high”) is a source of controversy, but he only cites one complainant, and never provides a comparison between the Mormon’s steeple and the steeples that may or may not grace the forty-five other churches on 16th Street.
• He never uses the Mormon church’s preferred designation (Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)—fine for a blog, but not for a professional, unbiased article in the religion section of a major newspaper.
• He includes a quote from a local Church of Christ pastor that includes fundamental misunderstanding of Mormon theology (that Mormons view Jesus as a prophet, not as the Messiah) without either providing the correct information or giving the Mormons a chance to respond.
• Worst of all, however, Schwartzman’s writing is ATROCIOUS. Half the time he sounds like he’s writing a bad romance novel; the other half, like he’s writing for a local newsletter. Two examples (emphasis mine):
  

  “What are they trying to prove?” said Stuart Peacock, a lawyer who resides around the corner, his narrowing eyes punctuating his disgust. “It’s too much.”

  “I don’t want to come off as the anti-Christ, because I’m not. I just have my apprehensions,” said Eblan, a crucifix around her neck. “The noise is going to drive me crazy. We’re just trying to live our lives.”

  Also, he misuses the word “affect” and forgets the second comma in at least one parenthetical phrase.

I don’t know anything about Paul Schwartzman besides the fact that he is a staff writer who (judging by his previous articles) concentrates on local matters, of both a religious and non-religious nature. Maybe he is a young cub reporter who doesn’t know better, writing small articles while waiting for his Big Break. But that is why newspapers employ editors and copyeditors. Where were the Washington Post’s editors when this piece of trash was submitted? And why the hell was it published without major revision?

Heaven knows I’m no apologist for the Mormon church, and I couldn’t care less if they end up building a meetinghouse, with or without a 105-foot steeple, on 16th Street in Washington D.C. But a professional newspaper is a professional newspaper. COME ON, PEOPLE.