The Press and Extreme Right

[Lord DragonsWing]

I had quite an awakening to the extreme right this week. The local paper here in Mobile, Alabama has a religion section every Sunday. This weekend, the main topic was Buddism, which I found interesting. Unfortunately, the Monday morning comments from the locals were not as flattering.
Everyone was yelling not to focus on other religions, just on christianity. That it was their paper and that only one religion existed. Most of the comments were not about the war in Iraq or any recent murder trials. Just about the newspaper educating everyone about Buddism and other religions. The far right seems that the religion section of a paper belongs to them.
Sitting back and looking at the situation, the far right is trying to control everything from the White House down to the local press. This is scary!!!!!!!!!!!!
Something tells me the Burning Times are on the horizon again. That Wiccans, Buddist, Muslims and other religions are about to be persecuted by the right wing Christian majority. They don't want to understand the rest of the world's religions, they are the same as they always have been. Conqueor and control. Slaughter and rewrite history.
Let's just hope others see through this attitude. That the press can continue to educate others and not be controlled by the right wing christian militia. Let's just hope. Because that's all that I have anymore for this country. Hope.

 

[mack_the_knife]

By definition, it would be the extremists you hear the most from on both sides. Moderate folk don't tend to hammer the newspapers with letters.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Not ranking on Alabama, but what did you expect in Mobile? I've lived in labama. traveled widley there. I can't remember a single budist shrine. Don't remember any Mosques or synagogs come to think of it. I do remember Gordo though. Ever been to gordo? It's a really small town on 82 I believe. You're in it for all of five minutes if you catch both red lights. You can count 23 churches or signes dierecting you to churches in that stretch.

You're living in the bible belt. It should come as no surprise that your editorial section is filled with religious folks. And unless you've been asleep these last few years, it shouldn't surprise you the flavor is fundamantalist either.

my 2 cents

 

[cloudy]

Not ranking on Alabama, but what did you expect in Mobile? I've lived in labama. traveled widley there. I can't remember a single budist shrine. Don't remember any Mosques or synagogs come to think of it. I do remember Gordo though. Ever been to gordo? It's a really small town on 82 I believe. You're in it for all of five minutes if you catch both red lights. You can count 23 churches or signes dierecting you to churches in that stretch.

You're living in the bible belt. It should come as no surprise that your editorial section is filled with religious folks. And unless you've been asleep these last few years, it shouldn't surprise you the flavor is fundamantalist either.

my 2 cents

What Colly said. It's even worse up here on Sand Mountain. There is no religion but Christianity, and if you even dare breathe an idea contrary to that, you risk being stoned out of town, your children discriminated against at school, etc., etc.

I hate it here.

 

[EggShellBoy]

fascists of all persuasions are still fascists (mind you I've yet to meet a fascist buddhist but I bet they exist).

As a fully paid-up card carrying atheist I find most religions/faiths have beauty at their core but that this is hidden and warped by the constructs of men (and yes I use the word knowingly). If you read the words that Jesus was supposed to have said you quickly realise that he would be lynched in the bible belt today and the far right would condemn him as a left wing liberal (sounds kind of familiar even in the context of his story).

The press is and always has been the instrument of the ruling elite, even in the good old US of A. The ruling elite has always been right wing and reactionary. We are all kept in a state of fear, through the press, so that we are easier to manipulate - whether it be a perceived terrorist threat or the current bete noir - bird flu. We are fed a diet of semi-truths so that we will willingly allow our personal freedoms to be removed.

 

[cantdog]

fascists of all persuasions are still fascists (mind you I've yet to meet a fascist buddhist but I bet they exist).

As a fully paid-up card carrying atheist I find most religions/faiths have beauty at their core but that this is hidden and warped by the constructs of men (and yes I use the word knowingly). If you read the words that Jesus was supposed to have said you quickly realise that he would be lynched in the bible belt today and the far right would condemn him as a left wing liberal (sounds kind of familiar even in the context of his story).

The press is and always has been the instrument of the ruling elite, even in the good old US of A. The ruling elite has always been right wing and reactionary. We are all kept in a state of fear, through the press, so that we are easier to manipulate - whether it be a perceived terrorist threat or the current bete noir - bird flu. We are fed a diet of semi-truths so that we will willingly allow our personal freedoms to be removed.

Well, maybe. The point is, Buddha is a big threat in Mobile. Those letters weren't from elites, they were from Bible idolators.

 

[amicus]

Not that it matters but you people are so full of it, it becomes hilarious.

For a half century the Liberal Left, and the left wing press, media, music, books, art have been on the attack against ethical morality of all kinds, not just Christian Fundamentalism.

The 'Church' has been the only source of moral guidance, here there and everywhere. The Left Wing, in sophisticated snobbery and righteous aloofness has proclaimed the moral high ground of relativism, situational morality and ambivalent humanism.

Did you just expect the religious right to lay down and take it?

As Colleen Thomas has said, time and again, the Left has shoved feminism, homosexuality and forced equality into the faces of the populace time and time again. And you act surprised that they are finally fighting back?

"I didn't have sex with that woman!"

Yeah, sure, Bill.

Assholes.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Not that it matters but you people are so full of it, it becomes hilarious.

For a half century the Liberal Left, and the left wing press, media, music, books, art have been on the attack against ethical morality of all kinds, not just Christian Fundamentalism.

The 'Church' has been the only source of moral guidance, here there and everywhere. The Left Wing, in sophisticated snobbery and righteous aloofness has proclaimed the moral high ground of relativism, situational morality and ambivalent humanism.

Did you just expect the religious right to lay down and take it?

As Colleen Thomas has said, time and again, the Left has shoved feminism, homosexuality and forced equality into the faces of the populace time and time again. And you act surprised that they are finally fighting back?

"I didn't have sex with that woman!"

Yeah, sure, Bill.

Assholes.

Atta boy, Amicus! When in doubt just remember- Clinton lied about having sex.
Bush sends our boys into an unwinnable war? hey- CLINTON LIED!!!
Haliburton steals, grafts, and screws our country into the dust,
who cares, CLINTON LIED!!!

" Hussein has WMD's"
"I didn't have sex with that woman"
Of these two lies, which one has proved to be more deadly?

Obviously, in your mind, the one about sex. What are you doing here, on a sex lit board anyway?

 

[cloudy]

Atta boy, Amicus! When in doubt just remember- Clinton lied about having sex.
Bush sends our boys into an unwinnable war? hey- CLINTON LIED!!!
Haliburton steals, grafts, and screws our country into the dust,
who cares, CLINTON LIED!!!

" Hussein has WMD's"
"I didn't have sex with that woman"
Of these two lies, which one has proved to be more deadly?

Obviously, in your mind, the one about sex. What are you doing here, on a sex lit board anyway?

Oh, ami's just cranky 'cause he hasn't had anything to drink yet today, and he hasn't been able to play with me and Sarahh, that's all.

 

[amicus]

Hi, Cloudy!

 

[cloudy]

Hi, Cloudy!

You want me.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Oh, ami's just cranky 'cause he hasn't had anything to drink yet today, and he hasn't been able to play with me and Sarahh, that's all.

hey- me too! So me and Ami have somethings in common.
Except I did have my coffee

 

[EggShellBoy]

amicus - wot are we full of? do you actually give a shit?

my point seems to have been lost.

can't be arsed to make it agen.

if u want to live an learn then come out to play, PLEASE!

 

[EggShellBoy]

must be the drink but Amicus mate - what the fuck are you talkin about? "Your" vision has controlled the media ever since its inception. The "Liberal Left" get fed what your lot want them to hear and always have. U know its true - kill a doctor to save a life and alllllll that shit. Tell me what you actually believe man??????

 

[Svenskaflicka]

Everyone was yelling not to focus on other religions, just on christianity. That it was their paper and that only one religion existed.

Don't you miss the good old days when they acknowledged that other religions DID exist, although they were heathen and sinful and wrong?

 

[amicus]

fascists of all persuasions are still fascists (mind you I've yet to meet a fascist buddhist but I bet they exist).

As a fully paid-up card carrying atheist I find most religions/faiths have beauty at their core but that this is hidden and warped by the constructs of men (and yes I use the word knowingly). If you read the words that Jesus was supposed to have said you quickly realise that he would be lynched in the bible belt today and the far right would condemn him as a left wing liberal (sounds kind of familiar even in the context of his story).

The press is and always has been the instrument of the ruling elite, even in the good old US of A. The ruling elite has always been right wing and reactionary. We are all kept in a state of fear, through the press, so that we are easier to manipulate - whether it be a perceived terrorist threat or the current bete noir - bird flu. We are fed a diet of semi-truths so that we will willingly allow our personal freedoms to be removed.

Eggshellboy.....Lord Dragonswing, the thread starter, states that the 'Right' controls the press: "...The press is and always has been the instrument of the ruling elite, even in the good old US of A..."... and so do you.

As if saying something over and over again can make it truth, the Left continues to chant about the 'Right' controlling the press. Fact indicates otherwise.

Media bias has been prevalently left wing since the 60's, the Vietnam era and everyone knows it. Dozens of surveys tracking articles on Network and cable news, shows an 80 percent Liberal, Left wing position on issue after issue. The same percentage holds true for the Print media. In the world of films and music, that same 80 percent dominate movies, books and songs.

Anti business, anti big corporations, anti capitalism, anti religion, anti war, anti nuclear, pro abortion, pro gays, pro feminists, pro forced equality, affirmative action, women's rights on the job, free socialized medicine for all, free day care, free public radio....

Even the perves on this site are 95 percent liberal left wing advocates and Bush haters.

And thas okay, to each his own....but damn, to say that the right controls the media is just downright silly.

Since the Liberal left has been conducting a war on Christmas for the past generation, by banning public displays, forcing government workers (teachers) to say and teach, "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", banning the 10 commandments in government offices, challenging the pledge of allegiance, (Under God); and you still don't get it. Those silly Christians actually have the audacity to fight back.

I happen to be an atheist also, which may come as a surprise to you, but I am also not deaf and dumb enough to ignore the reality of left wing influence in the media and elsewhere. (80 percent of teachers voted for Kerry) The Liberal scum also heavily infect the schools, not just media.

How doya like them apples?

(hi cloudy )

amicus...

 

[Stella_Omega]

As an atheist, do you feel comfortable saying "under God" and if so, why?

 

[dr_mabeuse]

You're living in the bible belt. It should come as no surprise that your editorial section is filled with religious folks. And unless you've been asleep these last few years, it shouldn't surprise you the flavor is fundamantalist either.

my 2 cents

Yeah, but I think there's a big difference between religious folks and bigots, and these people are bigots, no matter how you slice it. It's one thing to be Christian. It's quite another thing to think that all other religions are the work of Satan.

I've got to tell you, for a Northerner, especially for a Northern Jew, going down south and seeing neon crosses all over the place and Jesus on billboards is truly frightening. They're positively medieval down there.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Eggshellboy.....Lord Dragonswing, the thread starter, states that the 'Right' controls the press: "...The press is and always has been the instrument of the ruling elite, even in the good old US of A..."... and so do you.

As if saying something over and over again can make it truth, the Left continues to chant about the 'Right' controlling the press. Fact indicates otherwise.

Media bias has been prevalently left wing since the 60's, the Vietnam era and everyone knows it. Dozens of surveys tracking articles on Network and cable news, shows an 80 percent Liberal, Left wing position on issue after issue. The same percentage holds true for the Print media. In the world of films and music, that same 80 percent dominate movies, books and songs.

Anti business, anti big corporations, anti capitalism, anti religion, anti war, anti nuclear, pro abortion, pro gays, pro feminists, pro forced equality, affirmative action, women's rights on the job, free socialized medicine for all, free day care, free public radio....

Even the perves on this site are 95 percent liberal left wing advocates and Bush haters.

And thas okay, to each his own....but damn, to say that the right controls the media is just downright silly.

Since the Liberal left has been conducting a war on Christmas for the past generation, by banning public displays, forcing government workers (teachers) to say and teach, "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", banning the 10 commandments in government offices, challenging the pledge of allegiance, (Under God); and you still don't get it. Those silly Christians actually have the audacity to fight back.

I happen to be an atheist also, which may come as a surprise to you, but I am also not deaf and dumb enough to ignore the reality of left wing influence in the media and elsewhere. (80 percent of teachers voted for Kerry) The Liberal scum also heavily infect the schools, not just media.

How doya like them apples?

(hi cloudy )

amicus...

To be honest, it's quite possible for you both to be right.

There is a left wing liberal bias in the media. It's been there since at least the time I was old enough to read. that should come as no surpise to anyone. Conservatives rarely major in journalism. I would say Amicus's 80% figure is probably pretty close to correct, if you checked the political leanings of journalists.

Examples are legion, but none is perhaps as indicative of it on that level is the Mapes/Rather hatchet job on a sitting president two weeks before an election. Both the reporter, the staff who worked it, the editors who vetted it and the producer who put it together believed Bush was a stinker. They let that belief blind them to the fact they couldn't prove their accusations. Even when it was established that no document expert, not even those they hired, could authenticate their only piece of evidence. Even when the guy who produced it was an avowed hater of the Bush family and couldn't explain how he got them. The first law of documentary evidence was violated because you couldn't establish the chain of stewardship. In that even, you need rock solid authenitcation to even begin to make up for it. They had zero, but they went ahead and blasted the president. The fact the accusations are plausible, does not make them proven, no matter how much you hate GWB.

On the othr hand, those who own news outlets are, in general, at least fiscal conservatives. Most bussinessmen are. By extention you can hold the media is in the hands of conservatives. Rupert Murdoch being the most visible example.

Neither of you have to be wrong. Neither of you can be wholly right. The media is dichotimous. It's very leiberal at the lowest levels, getting more conservative as you progress from cub reporters, up through senior editors and it's pretty staid in the halls of power where media owners dwell.

AS with almost anything, the question of Bias turns on your own outlook. Is the media more liberal than Amicus? well, Duh. Is it more conservative than eggshell? Probably, I don't really know him well enough to say.

I see almost as much liberal bias as Amicus, but I'm a conservative. Unless I'm watching Fox, in which case I generally see a conservative spin. Radio talk shows show a definte right wing leaning. Print media columnists show a more pronounced left leaning bias. TV news is by and large, very liberal.

I think the last newsman who was not seen by the vast majority as having a bias was Khronkite. Before that, probably Edward R. Murrows. I don't think it's a coincidence that people trust the news less and newsmen less. When you let your politics influence how you report the news, your credibility as being fair and impartial suffers, be your leaning left or right.

 

[Liar]

Since the Liberal left has been conducting a war on Christmas for the past generation, by banning public displays, forcing government workers (teachers) to say and teach, "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", banning the 10 commandments in government offices, challenging the pledge of allegiance, (Under God); and you still don't get it. Those silly Christians actually have the audacity to fight back.

Yeah, but by bashing the edutainment section of a local rag? Did that paper say "Abandon your faith and believe in this instead"? No. It was a religion page and they did a little series thingy on foreign religions. There must be better, actually relevant arenas to battle on than that.

That's what's silly, if you ask me.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Yeah, but I think there's a big difference between religious folks and bigots, and these people are bigots, no matter how you slice it. It's one thing to be Christian. It's quite another thing to think that all other religions are the work of Satan.

I've got to tell you, for a Northerner, especially for a Northern Jew, going down south and seeing neon crosses all over the place and Jesus on billboards is truly frightening. They're positively medieval down there.

LOL. I laugh because this reminds me of my last trip home. LAte night, coming through Knoxville I think, and I suddenly see a big black bilboard with white lettering.

"You know that love your neighbor thing? I meant that"

-God

there were more. And some of the signs on church signs were positively frightening.

When I got home I mentioned it to my Brother. He's far from a lefty,mind you.

me- "Wow, I was coming through knoxvill and God was talking to me on bilboards"

him- "yeah?"

me- "I know it's gotten bad down here, but it wasn't that bad when I was young"

then he said something really profound.

"yes it was. You just don't realize it until you get away from it and come back"

 

[R. Richard]

Yeah, but I think there's a big difference between religious folks and bigots, and these people are bigots, no matter how you slice it. It's one thing to be Christian. It's quite another thing to think that all other religions are the work of Satan.

Dr. M, it is not just that they think that all other religions are the work of Satan. No. What they think is that you MUST listen to Radio Preacher and SEND IN YOUR CHECK! If you do not SEND IN YOUR CHECK, that is the work of Satan. If you do not listen to Radio Preacher, you probably are Satan himself.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Since the Liberal left has been conducting a war on Christmas for the past generation, by banning public displays, forcing government workers (teachers) to say and teach, "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas", banning the 10 commandments in government offices, challenging the pledge of allegiance, (Under God); and you still don't get it. Those silly Christians actually have the audacity to fight back.

No. There's no war on Christmas. There's a war to protect the constitution, which says that government should do nothing to promote one religion over another.

As a Jew in a Christian neighborhood growing up, back before the "War on Christmas," I can tell you what it was like to have to sing songs about the baby Jesus as Savior. I didn't mind the music, but it gave me a subtle but clear message that the USA was not really my country, that when they talked about the rights of citizens they weren't really talking about me. It's a lesson I never outgrew, for good or ill.

It's hard for Christians to realize how threatening their religion can be to non-Christians. I still remember going into my Catholic landlady's apartment once when I was very young for milk and cookies, and seeing my first Suffering Jesus crucifix in her dark hallway, with the thorns and the blood and the gash in his side. How it terrified me! They worship doing that to people? I had nightmares, and to this day, the sign of the cross still causes me a little twinge of uneasiness. Christianity can be a lovely religion, but it also has the bloodiest iconography of anything this side of Aztec sun worship.

No. You've got plenty of churches to do your religion in. Keep it out of my schools.

 

[amicus]

Hello Colleen...nice piece....

"Character is built by the use of two small words: Yes and No."

Sign on a church billboard hereabouts.

I must disagree with your contention that financial conservatives actually own most of the media outlets. Consider Ted Turner and Jane Fonda, the founder of CNN and part owner of the New York Times newspaper. I don't have more examples of just 'who' owns various media outlets, but I think Murdoch might be viewed as the Hearst empire was, 'sensationalists', doing what ever sold papers or acquired listeners.

And logically, can you imagine a right wing conservative businessman tolerating left wing propaganda machine operating under his auspices?

For those who hate the very concept of business, I suppose an answer might be that a business man is amoral, will take any position for a profit motive.

Right wing talk radio is predominant as the liberal left simply cannot debate on an open forum. As is evident here, the left cannot rationally defend their base assumptions of social control and abridgement of individual rights.

I always enjoy reading your thoughts...but I question your assertion that both sides are partly correct. As I have stated before, the base assumption of the Left, that individual rights can be sacrificed for the greater good, is, to me, a fundamental evil that cannot be comprised with.

I like to play Whack a Mole, with left wingers and bang em on the head everywhere and everytime the pop up.

amicus...

 

[cloudy]

No. There's no war on Christmas. There's a war to protect the constitution, which says that government should do nothing to promote one religion over another.

As a Jew in a Christian neighborhood growing up, back before the "War on Christmas," I can tell you what it was like to have to sing songs about the baby Jesus as Savior. I didn't mind the music, but it gave me a subtle but clear message that the USA was not really my country, that when they talked about the rights of citizens they weren't really talking about me. It's a lesson I never outgrew, for good or ill.

It's hard for Christians to realize how threatening their religion can be to non-Christians. I still remember going into my Catholic landlady's apartment once when I was very young for milk and cookies, and seeing my first Suffering Jesus crucifix in her dark hallway, with the thorns and the blood and the gash in his side. How it terrified me! They worship doing that to people? I had nightmares, and to this day, the sign of the cross still causes me a little twinge of uneasiness. Christianity can be a lovely religion, but it also has the bloodiest iconography of anything this side of Aztec sun worship.

No. You've got plenty of churches to do your religion in. Keep it out of my schools.

Thank you!!!

It scares the shit out of me to this day.