A Short Opinion About Religious "Diversity" In The Media
Religious Diversity in the Media is something that concerns me. Mostly because it tends not to be presented objectively at all. There is a disturbing tendency in our culture, to present the “other” through an uneducated subjective lense of bias (as pointed out, if not in those exact words, by both the Paden and Yearely articles). The method with which we are often presented with for looking at other cultures, has become sullied with a hasty need for judgement.
This becomes further complicated by a media who feels driven to show conflict, shock, and horror (for increased ratings, and dramatic interest) rather than a more objective, level-headed journalism. Perhaps objectivity, sensibility and true Paden-like comparison might not sell as well as everyone’s favorite subjective thriller of the day; but it is at a sad cost that we give up truth for entertainment.
History shows that people don’t want fairness, equality, or lack of persecution. Instead, they wish to be the one’s who dish it out, instead of take it in. Our fore-fathers escaped persecution in England so they could turn around and start persecuting other people that they saw lesser than themselves instead; people like the Native Americans, other religious denominations that were settling along-side them, and the Salem Witches. As a culture, we would rather draw a line between “us and them” than we would take any steps to understand each other. That’s because it’s easier to have the answers handed to you than it is to figure them out for yourself. People like easy...they pick the path of less resistance. But easy isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Easy causes problems like bias. Easy causes problems like labels. Problems like Mohsin was confronting with “Islamic Terrorists”.
The true challenge of comprehending and dealing with religious diversity, is sadly something that is above most elements of our culture (eg. the media). However, in an intellectual setting like ours, there is finally a small place where objectivity can start to break through those biases. We have a large task ahead of us, and the first step is to put down our gavel and pick up our astrolabe.
This becomes further complicated by a media who feels driven to show conflict, shock, and horror (for increased ratings, and dramatic interest) rather than a more objective, level-headed journalism. Perhaps objectivity, sensibility and true Paden-like comparison might not sell as well as everyone’s favorite subjective thriller of the day; but it is at a sad cost that we give up truth for entertainment.
History shows that people don’t want fairness, equality, or lack of persecution. Instead, they wish to be the one’s who dish it out, instead of take it in. Our fore-fathers escaped persecution in England so they could turn around and start persecuting other people that they saw lesser than themselves instead; people like the Native Americans, other religious denominations that were settling along-side them, and the Salem Witches. As a culture, we would rather draw a line between “us and them” than we would take any steps to understand each other. That’s because it’s easier to have the answers handed to you than it is to figure them out for yourself. People like easy...they pick the path of less resistance. But easy isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. Easy causes problems like bias. Easy causes problems like labels. Problems like Mohsin was confronting with “Islamic Terrorists”.
The true challenge of comprehending and dealing with religious diversity, is sadly something that is above most elements of our culture (eg. the media). However, in an intellectual setting like ours, there is finally a small place where objectivity can start to break through those biases. We have a large task ahead of us, and the first step is to put down our gavel and pick up our astrolabe.
posted by Tommy G! at 11:31 AM
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