NPR story this morning - End of Times

[fishbob]

Did anybody hear the National Public Radio report this morning about the Christian fundamentalists views on the situation with Israel and the Palestinians? The fundy point of view was delved into in detail - the end of times is coming, or not, depending on biblical interpretations, a lengthy aside about breeding a red cow to sacrifice on the Temple Mount, 10 million Americans apparently adhere to these beliefs.

NPR expressed absolutely no opinion at all on the subject matter. I guess this was supposed to be objective reporting, but I would have expected at least one rational viewpoint inserted somewhere into the report.

My regard for NPR has slipped a few notches over the last year or so.

[DavidJames]

http://www.randi.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?s=&threadid=21347

[WooBot]

Let me get this straight - you're slamming NPR for not being biased?

[fishbob]

Renata's question was "How likely is it that there will be a large man made disaster this century?"

My question is: What the heck is the matter with NPR?

Not slamming NPR for not being biased, but asking how NPR could present such a Wackadelphian report without at least attempting to add some rational context.

[SteveW]

I used to listen exclusively to NPR. I quit about a year ago when they announced the birthday of "the famed psychic Uri Geller." I turned it off and havent listened again.

[arcticpenguin]

Originally posted by WooBot
Let me get this straight - you're slamming NPR for not being biased?
Suppose they reported on Flat Earth vs. Round Earth theories - wouldn't it be entirely appropriate to show some bias in that situation?

[Frank Newgent]

Quit whining about National Pentagon Radio. For (http://www.preteristarchive.com/dEmEnTiA/press_valentine-tom.html) Christ's (http://www.preteristarchive.com/dEmEnTiA/preston-don_dd_01.html) sake (http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/apocalypse/readings/forcing.html).

[WooBot]

Originally posted by arcticpenguin

Suppose they reported on Flat Earth vs. Round Earth theories - wouldn't it be entirely appropriate to show some bias in that situation?

Are you suggesting that the question of whether Christians are rational in their beliefs is as non-controversial as the flat earth theories? :) What do you think the reaction of the Religious Right would be if they were to show bias? "There they go again, those liberal ********."

NPR can't win. If they are biased, people gripe; if they are unbiased, people gripe.

My own take on it is that NPR respects the intelligence of its listeners enough to know that taking sides is unnecessary. If a belief is silly enough, nothing is needed but to shine a bright light on it.

[Mercutio]

I did listen to the program. I thought it was remarkable. Honestly, I didn't think NPR needed to add editorializing, the editing alone allowed you the chance to digest each view, be amazed, move on. They could have been heavy-handed and said "what a crock this is", but chose to simply report it, and let their listeners decide for themselves that these people were scary. (they did at least acknowledge that some of the groups supporting Israel now were doing so only in order that Israel would then fall and become christian--I thought that was enough to save NPR from charges of sideline-sitting)

Of course, this is just my view--reminds me a bit of "All in the Family", which was seen as supportive of so many different views. I'd really like to hear an in-depth view of a different point of view from my own on the program. Was it a rorshach test that we can all project onto?

[Malachi151]

Originally posted by WooBot


Are you suggesting that the question of whether Christians are rational in their beliefs is as non-controversial as the flat earth theories? :) What do you think the reaction of the Religious Right would be if they were to show bias? "There they go again, those liberal ********."

NPR can't win. If they are biased, people gripe; if they are unbiased, people gripe.

My own take on it is that NPR respects the intelligence of its listeners enough to know that taking sides is unnecessary. If a belief is silly enough, nothing is needed but to shine a bright light on it.

The way the story was reported WAS baised. So are you saying that being rational is showing bias and being irrational is not baised?

All they needed to do was present an opposing view at the end.

[fishbob]

If a belief is silly enough, nothing is needed but to shine a bright light on it. Maybe you are right.

Maybe dodging nitwit drivers on the way to work while listening to the report caused me to have a combined road rage / outrage reaction. edited to add NAH

[Frank Newgent]

Malachi151


I know little about old Testament prophecy, evangelical Southern Baptists or Preterist eschatology. And I missed hearing the NPR story that prompted this thread.

But cruising the Preterist Archive (http://www.preteristarchive.com/index.html) I came upon mention of Malachi, an old Testament prophet of Doom.

Great name.

[Frank Newgent]

http://www.natcath.com/NCR_Online/archives/101102/101102a.htm

Gershom Gorenberg, author of The End of Days: Fundamentalism and the Struggle for the Temple Mount, remarks that depictions of those who believe they are living in history’s final days are often cartoonish, drawing too rigid a separation between mainstream religion and beliefs that are relegated to doomsday cult status. An American-born Israeli journalist who is an associate at the Center for Millennial Studies at Boston University, Gorenberg has studied the spectrum of Messianic belief both in Israel and in the United States.

“The fact is that millions of quite rational men and women, belonging to established religious movements around the globe, look forward to history’s conclusion, to be followed by the establishment of a perfected era. They draw support from ideas deeply embedded in Western religion and culture. You don’t need to go to central Africa to find them; they live in American suburbs; they work in insurance offices and high-tech startups. Some are influential leaders of America’s Christian right,” Gorenberg writes.


Religion and politics. That's entertainment...