Juan Williams’ political affiliation is liberal from the things he has said that I’ve heard. But when NPR fired him the other day, I was shocked. I have seen many liberals label Christians intolerant, but this takes the cake in my book. Since the Bill O'Reilly show is all opinion, and he was asked for his opinion, how was that wrong?
I have been angry before at things news people have said, but there is something quite quixotic about this finger-pointing from a blatantly liberal news media. The message here is that we should just put our heads in the sand and hope the danger goes away. No, no! Must not voice our fear. That might make it real!
News reporters are supposed to be unbiased, while journalists, by the nature of the job, have more leeway, and pundits are adamantly opinionated which is how they get paid.
Juan Williams was asked for his opinion and he gave an honest answer, “Seeing people dressed in Muslim garb and blatantly pushing Muslim agenda scares me.” Hey, it scares me silly, too.
Reporters, journalists as well as bloggers have opinions and are allowed their opinions, but not in the same way. Bloggers and pundits spew out their opinions like white water on the Colorado River: fast, furious and sometimes dangerous. Reporters and journalists have opinions and sometimes let go of them even while reporting. I see it mostly after someone has given a speech or during the political battles. But, reporters’ and journalists’ opinions are asked for on talk shows, during interviews and such. They also give their opinions more times than my stomach can tolerate while reporting. If I’d done what most reporters do in my journalism classes, I’d have flunked out of school. It wasn’t tolerated 30 years ago, but today is an accepted form of reporting. It isn’t hard to do, either, all one needs is an excellent grasp of the English language to give a slant to a story.
I’ve been fired from three jobs because of my Christian beliefs. I am not silent about them, but I’m not “in your face” about them either. Yet, others have been so uncomfortable that I’m around they had to get rid of me.
The news media has become so corrupted with opinion these days, I’m quite sure Chet Huntley and David Brinkley are rolling over in their graves, Sam Reynolds and Walter Cronkite are tsking, and Harry K. Smith is looking bug-eyed in horror. For you Gen-Xers, those were the journalists that a viewer could respect.
But, if we continually accept this kind of tripe, and never demand excellence then we get what we deserve. Christians are so adept a remaining silent, we’ve allowed the Father of Lies to permeate our entertainment. It is our own fault for accepting trash instead of treasure, and lies instead of truth simply for the thrill of the latest gossip or whiff of scandal.
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