By TIM KILLEEN
CF was created in an attempt to consider all points of view and arguments logically and to judge them on their merits. I think that, despite evidence to the contrary, people actually appreciate a thorough and thoughtful critique of an issue to help them work through their own beliefs and decision-making. On the other side of that, you have fear-inducing and hateful coverage of world events (both subtle and loud) that are not too hard to find.
Yesterday, FOX News was all over the story of NASA's diplomatic mission to the Muslim world- an attempt to help bring together our country and that (large) swath of the planet to help create a peaceful collective dialogue. A noble effort, one would think. However, Jon Stewart pointed out all the places where FOX not only railed against this effort but a number of other Muslim (non)stories, such as Muslims building mosques in America. A quick jump to the website of the National Review reveals more anti-Muslim stories here, here, here and here.
But, of course, all media is liberally biased and places like FOX don't have an agenda, they just report things they way they are. Yes, it is true that Muslim fundamentalists continue to wage a war of violence and oppression throughout many parts of the world. That war is hateful and wrong. But so, too, is a reactionary measure against everyone of the Islamic faith. That faith is professed by roughly one-fifth of the world's population; yet you don't see 1.5 billion people waging war.
Having spent some time in the Middle East, I can say that most everyone I met and encountered was welcoming and tolerant. Just as those who lived under oppressive Communist governments were not, themselves, oppressive people, so too are the people who live under oppressive Muslim regimes good people in bad circumstances. Every now and again, a time comes around where a people can be battered in the media with little push-back (Irish, Chinese, Germans, Japanese); but at least in the United States, if nowhere else, we appreciate the fact that diversity makes us stronger and to sink to scapegoating, hateful, media coverage is to become the narrow-minded people we struggle against.
CF was created in an attempt to consider all points of view and arguments logically and to judge them on their merits. I think that, despite evidence to the contrary, people actually appreciate a thorough and thoughtful critique of an issue to help them work through their own beliefs and decision-making. On the other side of that, you have fear-inducing and hateful coverage of world events (both subtle and loud) that are not too hard to find.
Yesterday, FOX News was all over the story of NASA's diplomatic mission to the Muslim world- an attempt to help bring together our country and that (large) swath of the planet to help create a peaceful collective dialogue. A noble effort, one would think. However, Jon Stewart pointed out all the places where FOX not only railed against this effort but a number of other Muslim (non)stories, such as Muslims building mosques in America. A quick jump to the website of the National Review reveals more anti-Muslim stories here, here, here and here.
But, of course, all media is liberally biased and places like FOX don't have an agenda, they just report things they way they are. Yes, it is true that Muslim fundamentalists continue to wage a war of violence and oppression throughout many parts of the world. That war is hateful and wrong. But so, too, is a reactionary measure against everyone of the Islamic faith. That faith is professed by roughly one-fifth of the world's population; yet you don't see 1.5 billion people waging war.
Having spent some time in the Middle East, I can say that most everyone I met and encountered was welcoming and tolerant. Just as those who lived under oppressive Communist governments were not, themselves, oppressive people, so too are the people who live under oppressive Muslim regimes good people in bad circumstances. Every now and again, a time comes around where a people can be battered in the media with little push-back (Irish, Chinese, Germans, Japanese); but at least in the United States, if nowhere else, we appreciate the fact that diversity makes us stronger and to sink to scapegoating, hateful, media coverage is to become the narrow-minded people we struggle against.
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