"People who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones.

~ English idiom

We don’t know Paula Deen, the noted Southern chef, personally. We have eaten at one of her restaurants in Savannah, as we are sure many of you have.

The food was no better or worse than the fare at many Southern restaurants that feature fried chicken, greens, mac and cheese, and good sweet tea.

Deen, in a court deposition, admitted recently that in her life, she had uttered a statement that would offend people of a different race; she went on to say that she regretted that.

We are positive that people who are reading this, white and black, have said something disparaging about someone else at one time or another. And if you are like most people, you regret those thoughts or statements today.

Unless there is some video or other evidence that we haven’t seen, the reactions of companies such as Walmart and the Food Network to Deen’s admission are at best discouraging and are being driven by a minority of people who apparently have lived perfect lives and are close to just flying up straightaway to meet the Good Lord.

Let’s make this clear: The disparaging language Paula Deen used years ago was wrong and hurtful; she has said that she is sorry.

To have her life dragged through the mud by some major political and religious hypocrites, who make a living by keeping stirred up every perceived social injustice, is wrong.

The majority of people who believe there is such a thing as forgiveness should step up and shut those hypocrites down.