Last updated on April 23rd, 2012 at 09:07 pm
Christian Broadcasting Network News (CBN) reports that Media Matters For America is an anti-Christian organization, claiming “Now, CBN News has obtained a document showing that the very foundation of the group known as Media Matters for America is built on anti-Christian bias.†Oh dear, you’re kidding right?
From CBN’s report:
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As part of its strategy, Media Matters frequently targets Christian organizations in an effort to counter what it views as pro-Christian “bias in news reporting and analysis by the American media.”
“It is common for news and commentary by the press to present viewpoints that tend to overly promote…a conservative, Christian-influenced ideology,” the group said in its application for non-profit status with the IRS.
Vince Coglianese, a reporter with The Dailer Caller, has investigated the Media Matters’ attacks on Christian organizations.
“Media Matters, in its application to the IRS–outright, in the very first paragraph–declares it’s going to be an anti-Christian organization,” he said.
“Interestingly, though, in their public mission statement Media Matters makes no mention of the fact that it intends to target the Christian ideology,” Coglianese noted.
Media Matters did not respond to CBN News’ requests for comment on this story or the document.
This whole conspiracy necessitates that Media Matters also be anti-Israel. Because of course, if you don’t put Israel above America, then you’re somehow anti-Israel. Sorry, Jack – I’m an American. I’m pro-America. I’m anti-ANYHING that puts another country above my own. And there is nothing unreasonable about that. It’s what we should be able to expect from any American, isn’t it? I’m an American citizen, after all, not an Israeli citizen and Israel is no more special than any other friend of the United States. Apparently we should be cheering for these Israeli Defense Force thugs to brutalize unarmed Danes:
Everyone deserves an M1A4 carbine in the face. Now, don’t take this as a blanket slap at the IDF: they at least allow women in combat roles and let gay and lesbian soldiers serve openly, making them light-years more progressive than the Evangelicals taking over our military. There are bad apples in every tree, and Lt. Col Eisner of the IDF is one of them. What CBN News, FOX News and others need to understand is that disapproval of Israeli policies does not equal anti-Semitism. Were it, one could conclude from this video that the Israelis are anti-Dane, which is an absurd conclusion. I’m sure in other contexts, Lt. Col. Eisner could have sat down with a Dane and had an enjoyable experience.
But that’s not all: Israel aside, even if Media Matters is an anti-Christian organization, so what? Where is there a law against that? The United States abounds with anti-Pagan organizations – they’re called churches. Pastors spew anti-Pagan bias every Sunday from tens of thousands of pulpits across the nation. I’ve personally been accused of worshiping Satan more times than I can count. The Old Testament is one long anti-Gentile diatribe, a rejection of all things Pagan. The New Testament is little better. Christian denominations, for the better part of their existence, have been anti-Pagan, anti-heretic, anti-each other and violently so. The same can be said of anti-atheism in the political mainstream. So if a group is anti-Christian, where is the problem?
If it is okay to:
- Hate Islam, as fundamentalist Christians do;
- Hate Paganism, as fundamentalist Christians do;
- Hate atheism, as fundamentalist Christians do;
- Hate secularism, as fundamentalist Christians do;
- Hate Mormonism, as fundamentalist Christians do;
- Hate mainline Protestantism, as fundamentalist Christians do;
- Hate liberalism, as fundamentalist Christians do;
- Not to mention gays and lesbians transgender folk and women;
Then why is it not okay to hate Christianity?
This is what Media Matters says of itself:
Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.
Launched in May 2004, Media Matters for America put in place, for the first time, the means to systematically monitor a cross section of print, broadcast, cable, radio, and Internet media outlets for conservative misinformation — news or commentary that is not accurate, reliable, or credible and that forwards the conservative agenda — every day, in real time.
Using the website mediamatters.org as the principal vehicle for disseminating research and information, Media Matters posts rapid-response items as well as longer research and analytic reports documenting conservative misinformation throughout the media. Additionally, Media Matters works daily to notify activists, journalists, pundits, and the general public about instances of misinformation, providing them with the resources to rebut false claims and to take direct action against offending media institutions.
Now not for a minute do I believe that Media Matters is an anti-Christian organization; contrary to the report, they don’t even claim to be.
Being opposed to the behavior of a particular group of Christians is quite different from being anti-Christian. For example, New Testament scholar Bart Ehrman is not anti-Christian, though he is often accused of it. In his own words, “the only thing I attack in my writings (and not even directly) is a fundamentalist and conservative evangelical understanding of Christianity” and his comparison is useful here, that “to say for that reason that I attack Christianity is like saying that if you don’t like raspberry sherbet you don’t like any kind of ice cream” (Did Jesus Exist? The Historical Argument for Jesus of Nazareth, 2012).
Really, if Media Matters were actually anti-Christian, it’s difficult to see why fundamentalists would have a cause for complaint, because Media Matters clearly ain’t talking about them.
The problem for CBN News, FOX News and other conservative Christian groups is that Media Matters won’t fall in line, won’t play along with their song and dance like the mainstream media, and won’t look the other way as they try to poison American minds while trying to foist a theocracy on America. In other words, Media Matters is doing exactly what they said they do, which is to “analyze and correct conservative misinformation.†Apparently, correcting conservative misinformation is anti-Christian. The problem with Media Matters is that they tell the truth: that mainstream media reporting is heavily slanted in favor of a conservative Evangelical Christian position.
Presto! In a world where saying “Happy Holidays!” makes you guilty of waging a war on Christmas, telling the truth about media bias means you’re anti-Christian!
So be it. The only people who can control that flow of misinformation is fundamentalist Christianity itself and you know where they stand where dishonesty is concerned: squarely in the corner with the Father of Lies. If we’re at the point where telling the truth makes you anti-anything, it’s time for fundamentalist Christians to start looking in the mirror. If they were truly Christian, they wouldn’t like what they see.
Hrafnkell Haraldsson, a social liberal with leanings toward centrist politics has degrees in history and philosophy. His interests include, besides history and philosophy, human rights issues, freedom of choice, religion, and the precarious dichotomy of freedom of speech and intolerance. He brings a slightly different perspective to his writing, being that he is neither a follower of an Abrahamic faith nor an atheist but a polytheist, a modern-day Heathen who follows the customs and traditions of his Norse ancestors. He maintains his own blog, A Heathen’s Day, which deals with Heathen and Pagan matters, and Mos Maiorum Foundation www.mosmaiorum.org, dedicated to ethnic religion. He has also contributed to NewsJunkiePost, GodsOwnParty and Pagan+Politics.
