Scott Lloyd Posted June 22, 2015 Author Posted June 22, 2015 There have been some cynical expressions here about the state of journalism as a whole. That was not my intent in starting this thread. I associate on a daily basis with professional news people of integrity, honesty and wisdom -- and not just those in my own company. I've never believed in tarring with a broad brush an entire profession based on the errant actions of some. For this reason, I don't like lawyer jokes -- even when told by lawyers. I see this regrettable incident as symptomatic of a domineering secularism in society, of an unwritten but pervasive taboo that would forbid any expression of religious faith or devotion in the public arena today. It's another illustration of the tyranny of political correctness, the same condition that, in the minds of some, makes it uncool to refer to the holiday celebrated on Dec. 25 as Christmas, or would rebrand a Christmas tree as a "holiday tree." 1
Scott Lloyd Posted June 22, 2015 Author Posted June 22, 2015 (edited) There have been some cynical expressions here about the state of journalism as a whole. That was not my intent in starting this thread. I associate on a daily basis with professional news people of integrity, honesty and wisdom -- and not just those in my own company. I've never believed in tarring with a broad brush an entire profession based on the errant actions of some. For this reason, I don't like lawyer jokes -- even when told by lawyers. I see this regrettable incident as symptomatic of a domineering secularism in society, of an unwritten but pervasive taboo that would forbid any expression of religious faith or devotion in the public arena today. It's another illustration of the tyranny of political correctness, the same condition that, in the minds of some, makes it uncool to refer to the holiday celebrated on Dec. 25 as Christmas, or would rebrand a Christmas tree as a "holiday tree."I thought that perhaps the phrase "domineering secularism" was original with me. So I did a Google search to check. Turns out it is not. But in the course of my investigation, I ran across this very thoughtful and sensible article from the Witherspoon Institute. The whole article is worth a look. Here's an excerpt: Many see a growing strain of domineering secularism at work in American culture, one that has otherwise very different religious groups facing common pressures to discard, modify, or at least keep quiet about their religious beliefs and practices. This is why religious freedom remains most directly and self-evidently important to religious believers themselves. They have the most to lose if its guarantees do not remain strong.But beyond the very real protections it offers specific people of faith, religious freedom plays another vital role in the life of a free society, a role that helps make possible the liberty of all its members, believers and non-believers alike. Religious freedom is not just a particular type of freedom; it is a critical source of freedom itself. Edited June 22, 2015 by Scott Lloyd 1
Robert F. Smith Posted June 23, 2015 Posted June 23, 2015 There have been some cynical expressions here about the state of journalism as a whole. That was not my intent in starting this thread. I associate on a daily basis with professional news people of integrity, honesty and wisdom -- and not just those in my own company. I've never believed in tarring with a broad brush an entire profession based on the errant actions of some. For this reason, I don't like lawyer jokes -- even when told by lawyers.On the other hand, journalism schools across the country have been turning out so-called "journalists" who are more interested in entertainment than in news, in makeup and ornamentation than in content, more in being nice than in doing fact-based inquiry. One finds very little investigative reportage nowadays, except with the "Frontline" consortium. The best journalism of yesteryear came from college-trained print journalists who made the transition to broadcast news and took it very seriously. Instead, now we get talking dogs who are expert in reading teleprompters. I see this regrettable incident as symptomatic of a domineering secularism in society, of an unwritten but pervasive taboo that would forbid any expression of religious faith or devotion in the public arena today. It's another illustration of the tyranny of political correctness, the same condition that, in the minds of some, makes it uncool to refer to the holiday celebrated on Dec. 25 as Christmas, or would rebrand a Christmas tree as a "holiday tree."Or a Hanukka Bush, with Hanukka Gelt for decoration. You know of course that Hanukka comes on the 25th of Kislev, don't you Scott. Aside from the fact that Jesus was not born on December 25, nor at Winter Solstice, and that Christmas is basically a very pagan holiday -- which is happily celebrated in many non-Christian countries to the tune of "Jingle Bells." What could be more banal?
mfbukowski Posted June 23, 2015 Posted June 23, 2015 There have been some cynical expressions here about the state of journalism as a whole. That was not my intent in starting this thread. I associate on a daily basis with professional news people of integrity, honesty and wisdom -- and not just those in my own company. I've never believed in tarring with a broad brush an entire profession based on the errant actions of some. For this reason, I don't like lawyer jokes -- even when told by lawyers. I see this regrettable incident as symptomatic of a domineering secularism in society, of an unwritten but pervasive taboo that would forbid any expression of religious faith or devotion in the public arena today. It's another illustration of the tyranny of political correctness, the same condition that, in the minds of some, makes it uncool to refer to the holiday celebrated on Dec. 25 as Christmas, or would rebrand a Christmas tree as a "holiday tree."Secularism is winning for a reason in the competition and evolution of ideas, and that is because people think it explains things better than religion. We know better. The fault is not with secularism, but with religious people who do not understand how to beat secularism at its own game. If we cannot offer meaningful lives to secularists, we should be looking at what we need to do to turn that around. Natural selection absolutely works in ideas- that is why we no longer think that the sun revolves around earth. There is a better explanation, that works better. If we are not offering secularists a better explanation, we cannot expect them to follow what does not work for them. Mormonism is the perfect antidote to secularism, but no one knows it because we are still using pre-restoration, apostate theology and theological terms. For example, secularists believe that mankind has created its own world. We preach that we can create worlds, but do not understand that can be construed in the present tense just as well as the future tense. They call their version of it "social constructivism", but we cannot see that it is the same phenomenon as a Human "Council of Gods organizing matter unorganized" (Genesis 1:1) and label their beliefs "atheism" Secularists believe in "unexplained psychosomatic healing" or call it "the placebo effect" while we call it a "miracle". Mind and spirit are one, if the mind heals, it is the spirit doing the healing. "Psychosomatic healing" is the mind healing the body, but secularists have their explanation and we see their explanation as "Godless" just because we do not understand that there is no real difference between a "miracle" and "psychosomatic healing". So we label one "atheistic" and the other "religious" when in fact these are just two different words for the same phenomenon. You are a man who knows that one can describe anything in a variety of ways with a variety of "spins", all of which can be perfectly "valid" according to one's perspective. I think we just need to start communicating effectively with secularism. If we do, the world could be a very different place, very quickly. They are looking for meaning in their lives- and we have it. Somehow we just need to speak their language for them to see it. We need to be less concerned about pretending we know when Christ was born and more concerned with the fact that a God/Man, an ideal and perfect human being actually existed and showed us how to be happy, and that we have his PLAN for all the earth to follow and be happy. If "Christmas" became a celebration of how to become perfect by giving, loving, and serving we would be moving in the right direction, in my mind. Yes, that does not point directly the the person Jesus, but it would move the world closer to being READY to see how Jesus fits in the larger scheme of what is really important. Santa Claus would disappear as a silly legend, or at the best, be seen as a symbol of "peace, service, and giving" By emphasizing what we can agree on with secularists, we will no longer tend to see them as the enemy. After all, aren't we to love our "enemies" and turn the other cheek instead of fighting them? We need to show secularists the similarities, not the differences, and show "what's in it for them" to actually believe in a God who is an Ideal Human, infinitely exalted above us, and as a role model of all we aspire to be. We need to show them that they can think of this Person as a "Father" and address Him quietly in prayer, and amazingly- he will actually respond! They understand they need to be "better" humans- more service oriented, more giving, caring more about people and the planet, about working together toward an ideal society, about taking advice from wise and benevolent leaders, but the phrase "become a Zion society under the prophet" sounds to them as some weird cult far removed from anything they can relate to. (just for you- to which they can relate ) Remember those same people you call "professional news people of integrity, honesty and wisdom -- and not just those in my own company." are exactly those you also say cause "a domineering secularism in society, of an unwritten but pervasive taboo that would forbid any expression of religious faith or devotion in the public arena today." They are the same people!!! So what do we do to fix that?? How do we communicate that- not just to them, but to ourselves as well and heal this division between "people of integrity" who are representatives of "a domineering secularism in society"?? Something's gotta give somewhere.
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