« Healing Questions | Home | Making Church in Our Own Image »
Valueless reporting
By John W. Kennedy | April 7, 2009
I’ve been perturbed recently by a couple of media reports in which there is no attempt to provide a point of view that immoral behavior is wrong.
The first story involved the murder of 47-year-old ABC News broadcaster George Weber. Coverage in newspapers and on TV repeatedly described Weber as a gentle soul with no enemies. After the arrest of a suspect, details emerged that Weber had advertised on Craigslist for a male to engage in rough sex with him for $60. The one who replied to the ad, a 16-year-old boy, described how Weber gave him vodka and cocaine. Still, no judgment from reporters or those close to Weber, even though sexual activity with a 16-year-old boy is against the law. Weber’s family released a statement calling him “a truly caring person who loved and was loved by all he met.”
The other disturbing item I read was a “My Turn” column in Newsweek written by a Pakistani Muslim. In the column, Shariq Mahbub luridly describes how while a grad student he visited a Karachi cruising spot for gay men. He said he almost lost his life to an armed man claiming to be an undercover cop threatening to blackmail him.
In the aftermath, Mahbub came out of the closet to his parents, who now of course accept his lifestyle. He has settled in New York, where he doesn’t have to be ashamed about his homosexuality. He tells about how he wears a ring inscribed with his initials that he received from his Buddhist “partner.” The bio at the end describes Mahbub as “a spiritual teacher, energy healer and financial consultant” who is writing a book called A Spiritual Path for a New Age.
These types of accounts are what Francis A. Schaeffer warned about in his book A Christian Manifesto nearly three decades ago. Schaeffer told how an outlook that is the complete opposite has gradually replaced the traditional, at least nominal, Christian worldview. The godless way of thinking that now permeates much of the media, public education, government departments and legal court rulings declares there is no right or wrong in matters that used to be considered immoral, such as abortion and homosexuality. With such valueless messages being reiterated day after day, it’s easy to see why biblical doctrines on truth and morality now are considered outmoded by much of society.
Topics: journalism |