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It never hurts to consider where the opinion is coming from, who is it that is writing the opinion, when reading an Opinion Column.Controversial writings
Douthat published a number of essays that included statements that were later criticized. As an undergraduate at Harvard, Douthat wrote that Chile was fortunate to have the brutal dictator Augusto Pinochet, and Douthat downplayed the murder of thousands of journalists and political activists by the Pinochet regime.[14]
Douthat deemed the appointment of a gay minister to the Memorial Church of Harvard University "completely appalling", adding that: "Tolerance for gays means intolerance for others, namely those who cling to what the Harvard University Administration regards as outdated nonsense – the idea that not all sexual behavior is morally equivalent."[14]