From an interview last week with NBC congressional reporter Luke Russert \u2014 son of the widely respected Tim Russert \u2014 when asked if he believes the media and larger population has some sort of bias against people of faith:<\/p>\n
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\u201cI think that’s absolutely accurate, and I think the current world in which we live in, specifically with the American media, <\/i>snark is valued.<\/i><\/b>\u00a0 <\/i>[emphasis mine]<\/p>\n
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And it’s very easy to come after people of faith no matter what their religion is \u2014 Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim, Hindu.\u00a0 That you’re sort of tagged with this label of being puritanical and not understanding of others or of different viewpoints and I think that’s kind of, it\u2019s lazy, number one, and I think it’s just something that just feeds the snickering masses if you will in that regard.<\/i><\/p>\n
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For me, I think issues of faith are very complex.\u00a0 When you cover them as a journalist, you simply can’t, I feel, stereotype somebody as fitting into a box…\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
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The Intramuralist actually finds Russert\u2019s acknowledgement refreshing.\u00a0 As one within the profession, he articulates what many of us outside have long increasingly sensed.<\/p>\n
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In all of culture\u2019s efforts to supposedly refrain from being judgmental, many have still justified looking down upon persons whose faith guides their reasoning.\u00a0 Yes, as acknowledged by Russert, a non-religious arrogance has permeated our media; and even more challenging is that such a perspective is then thinly veiled as \u201cnews.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Let’s offer a few actual examples of such “news,” examples in which we will find both agreement\u00a0and<\/em> disagreement here on the Intramuralist. \u00a0It’s not that I share or do not share the below perspectives. \u00a0My question is how the media presents the perspective…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n How does the media handle the perspective of the Catholic business man…\u00a0 who based on his faith, does not believe he should have to provide free contraceptive and reproductive services via Obamacare to his employees?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n … Does the media then look down upon his perspective \u2014 and air a \u201cnews\u201d piece that makes him look foolish and his mandate to comply a wiser, necessary approach?<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n How does the media handle the perspective of the Washington state florist… who based on her Christian faith, refused to sell flowers to a gay couple for their wedding?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n … Does the media then look down upon her perspective \u2014 and air a \u201cnews\u201d piece that makes her look vindictive and the ACLU\u2019s suit against her a victory for all of humanity?<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n How does the media handle the perspective of the Methodist man… who based on his faith, is an advocate for collective bargaining and thus supports striking union workers?\u00a0 (Note:\u00a0 collective bargaining is included in \u201cThe Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church\u201d…)<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n … Does the media then look down upon his perspective \u2014 and air yet another \u201cnews\u201d piece that lambasts the man for his outdated, ineffective tactics?<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n While Russert unveils arguably one of culture\u2019s more current, subtle but significant downfalls, the question is:\u00a0 how does the media\u2019s judgmental approach to persons of faith permeate our news?\u00a0 Have we allowed a pervasive arrogance to be so meticulously morphed into an actual justification of thought, that we no longer recognize the judgment when it seeps into what is supposed to be an objective broadcast?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If the media and larger population look down upon reasoning which stems from spiritual thinking, by definition, that\u2019s arrogance. \u00a0I wonder, also, then, if we justify and allow the arrogance based on whether we agree or disagree with the perspective.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Trying not to be arrogant in return.\u00a0 Trying even harder not to be snarky.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Respectfully,<\/p>\n AR<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From an interview last week with NBC congressional reporter Luke Russert \u2014 son of the widely respected Tim Russert \u2014 when asked if he believes the media and larger population has some sort of bias against people of faith: \u201cI think that’s absolutely accurate, and I think the current world in which we live … <\/p>\n