Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Media Desperately Seeking the News: Jesussean Crackpot Edition
Posted by Bruce Barry on Tue, Sep 7, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Every so often the editors down at 1100 Broadway feel compelled to remind us that The Tennessean's full-page-single-topic approach to its editorial page is not always workable, and sometimes downright preposterous. Today it's the latter in a forum on Islam, mosques, vandalism and all that.
Having found an op-ed contributor willing to write in an enlightened way on the importance of religious liberty (a piece by the Southern Baptist Convention's Richard Land, who stakes out sane and reasonable territory on this issue), the paper's editors mine the depths of imbecility for an opposing view, and they unearth a doozy: an alarming piece titled "Christian Nation Has Lost Its Way" by one Pastor Joshua Paul-Johnian of the Franklin Tabernacle.
Pastor J-P-J, who sees only through the lens of Christian gospel (and apparently can't fathom why anyone else would do otherwise), describes the U.S. as "a nation who has lost sight of the truth of the Gospel and adopted a post-modern moral relativism that appeases our intellect but robs our soul." Islam, he writes, threatens "any way of life, cultural practice and faith that is not willing to bow the knee to Allah and his prophet Muhammad," and is "not compatible with the truth of Jesus Christ."
- Pastor Joshua
A question for the good pastor: Do you fail to grasp the glaring hypocrisy of your argument? In one breath he celebrates the (historically contortionist) notion that ours is a society whose civic institutions are unyieldingly rooted in one narrow theocratic paradigm, while in the next breath he lambastes the entirety of Islam for (as he sees it) fashioning for itself a society whose civic institutions are unyieldingly rooted in one narrow theocratic paradigm.
For the editors at The Tennessean, a different set of questions: What journalistic paradigm leads you to seek out an unhinged voice like this for your editorial page? Did you ask him to identify the property owners or managers in Cool Springs who told him, as he claims in the op-ed, that he can't relocate his church to their site unless it's a mosque? Do you think that every bit of uninformed, bigoted vitriol merits column inches in the name of diversity of opinion?
Comments (16)
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That is absolutely nuts. I was tempted to say something along the lines of, "Wow, printing the ramblings of the mentally ill on the editorial page." But then I realized that would be a slight to the mentally ill, few of I whom I suspect are quite this divorced from reality.
My favorite part is this: "In my attempt to find a place to worship I have even asked churches if we could rent their spaces. My appeals have fallen on deaf ears. You see, we are so dulled to the actual message of the Gospel that we are willing to accept and accommodate any other ideology that masks itself as truth in the name of profit and appeasement."
Translation: Even many of his fellow Christians can spot a nutjob a mile away. Apparently The Tennessean cannot.
Fortunately for The Tennessean, they really had no credibility left to lose, so no harm done.
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Maybe the editors were trying to make a point about the opposition to the mosque.
As if they had thinking editors, much less thinking abstractly. That will never happen at the noconTentessean. There hasn't been a thinking person there in quite a while. They can barely copy and paste literately.
I like the way his shirt is unbuttoned just enough to draw attention to the crucifix nestled ever-so-gently in that masculine jungle of chest hair (not unlike the way Baby Jesus was nestled by hay in the manger). It sends the message “I believe in Jesus Christ, my savior, who died on this sexy cross.”
Do you think that every bit of uninformed, bigoted vitriol merits column inches in the name of diversity of opinion?
Yes, yes they do.
"...at the noconTentessean"
Hat's off, so what, that's the best newspaper name fix since my days way back when in NC, where we used to refer to the Raleigh News and Observer (actually a decent paper for a mid-size city) as the Snooze and Disturber.
As for Ashley, well, I fear you will be in therapy for a long long time. Either that, or perhaps hired as outreach director for the Franklin Tabernacle.
@bb
You don't know the half of it! Also, "outreach director" sounds dirty if you say it in the right tone of voice.
All too true, Bruce.
Remember that the person assigned to put this page together has to find something, anything, to fill the white space on either side of the page, five days a week, without paying anyone to write it. As long as a column is more-or-less literate, non-defamatory and on topic, it doesn't matter what it says. It just needs to fill the hole. Format now drives content.
Just another reason why, with a few exceptions, the prevailing attitude at 1100 Broadway (and at many other mainstream dailies, especially the ones owned by Gannett) is punch in, punch out, keep your head down and, if you're lucky, keep your job. I guess that's why media criticism isn't as much fun as it used to be.
Maybe the whole goal was to make Richard Land seem 'sane and reasonable' by contast.
Sane maybe, but as a leader in a fundamentalist denomination he's not known for being reasonable.
The Tennessean's editorial page reminds me of the hilarious Alexander Cockburn piece from 30 years ago satirizing PBS's McNeil/Lehrer Newshour, where every issue had two, and exactly two, sides. "Should one man eat another? Pro and con!"
Here's a choice bit of Land-ism that the editors allowed to run:
"In other words, people have a right to have houses of worship everywhere they live, but not anywhere in the everywhere they reside."
Look up "asshat douchebag" in the dictionary and you get that pic of "Pastor" Joshua.
Both the Tennessean and Nashville Scene have gotten the reaction that
was hoped for: "Bash the Belivers whereever they are and anything they
might say". As many of these postings show there are plenty out there ready to
take the bait and spew their vendom on all things Christian they can find
or read! I have never heard of Pastor Joshua, but apparently the "Daily Fish
Wrapper" knew or had a list of outthere spokesperson to call on for just this
type comments, just as most media has a listing of these kind of sources.
NeverFear? Are you sure the name fits. The Christian as victim thing never plays well. Maybe before the emperor Constantine it had a little merit, but not since. A confident discipline of Jesus would never worry about criticism leveled at foolish preachers, and there are plenty of foolish preachers of ALL faiths.
Be secure in your beliefs and work for reconciliation in all aspects of life and you do the man from Nazareth proud. NeverWhine would be a much better name if you live up to it.
"Every so often?" How about every day? (Very unfortunate since these everyday matters take place at 1100 Broadway, where, readers are told, "every day matters.")
The problem is, as I told Mark Silverman, when he attempted to put his brand on the newspaper by taking it this direction, that it is an oversimplification to presume that by presenting the two extremes you have suggested the middle ground.
A moderate course, while not always preferable to the extremes, is usually the one most fair-minded people who have considered the pros and cons arrive at when it comes to making choices. Even choices that lean in the direction of one or the other extreme.
Stacy Harris
Publisher/Executive Editor/Media Critic
Stacy's Music Row Report
http://stacyharris.com/mediawatchdog.html
