In this political season, one theme I heard over and over was the “dishonest liberal media.” Now, I will emphasize that I am not partisan and would vote for a good candidate if they were a Democrat, Republican or Independent. While most of this rhetoric has come from the Trump people, I did hear some of the same kind of grumblings coming from some Democrats.
I am not naive to think that the media is without its bias. I, intentionally, will switch back and forth between Fox News and MSNBC, just to see the profound spins on the same topic. Most media outlets are in the profit business and they will present the side that will keep them popular with their watchers.
With that said, the true, objective journalist (and there are plenty of them) are doing God’s work. If God is there, and I believe that he is, then he dwells within reality. The more in touch we are with truth, real truth, the more in touch with God we can be. The more we engage in baseless conspiracy theories, the more cloudy God’s face becomes.
We live in a fallen and broken world. It is a dark place. The good journalists are the ones with the flashlights, washing away patches of darkness here and there. We need them.Those who blame or hate the media, are usually those with the most to hide.
The Journalist as a Prophet-type
From Luke 1, Zechariah prophesizes about John the Baptist in the following:
76 And you, my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High;
for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him,
77 to give his people the knowledge of salvation
through the forgiveness of their sins,
78 because of the tender mercy of our God,
by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven
79 to shine on those living in darkness
and in the shadow of death,
to guide our feet into the path of peace.
The modern day journalist is a type of prophet (imperfect prophet), whom God uses to bring light to this fallen world. Of course, they cannot all be trusted, but surely they should not be hated. It is an honorable profession that any good woman or man could aspire to.
For many years I was a card-carrying Evangelical. Like most evangelicals, I was a Republican through and through as we were taught that was the only party God likes. I watched only Fox news and listened to Rush. I often heard within my church comments about the liberal media being out to destroy Christianity and inject their humanistic agenda. My leaving Evangelism was a long and hard process (I tell that story in explicit terms in my upcoming book, Butterflies in the Belfy, Serpents in the Cellar).
Regarding my view of the media, one turning event was when a local Christian family caused the death of their adopted daughter. They were home-schoolers who followed the Dobson and Bill Gothard views of child rearing. To punish their daughter for wetting her bed, they forced her to lay on in their yard, in the snow, only in her underwear. She died an hour later from exposure.
I began to hear from my Christian friends that this dear Christian family were being persecuted by the liberal media. I heard this over and over until one day a light went off in my brain. Would I ever put one of my five children out in the snow in their panties? Of course not! This was insane, child abuse at least and murder at most. The media were the ones getting it right and the local pastors were the ones wanting to turn off the light and keep the darkness . . . well, dark.
Thank God for the media. They are doing God’s work. Those who shun the media and hate them are those, I believe, are the ones infatuated with darkness.
Mike
J. Michael Jones 