CBS Vying For Pravda Label
PERRspectives caught this lovely little bit of Republican propaganda coming from a network utilizing public airwaves:
In a single sentence in one story on religion in the United States, CBS Evening News managed to insult the vast majority of the American people. Describing a major new study on Americans' religious faith from the Pew Forum, CBS' Wyatt Andrews suggested that atheism in particular and Americans' widely shared belief in a secular society in general is immoral:
"The unprecedented survey of religion answers many concerns about a secular, morally void America."
Yup, because we know how moral those religionists have been. Darrel Plant found more:
(F)rom The Katie Show:
BOB ORR: At issue is whether or not telecommunications companies like Verizon and AT&T should be protected from lawsuits when they help the government tap conversations of suspected foreign terrorists - when those calls and emails are routed through the U.S.
Actually, the issue is whether retroactive immunity will be granted to telecoms so they can't be sued by Americans, for illegally participating in wiretapping American citizens in America.
These hypocrites are sure good at dispensing advice but really poor at taking it. Such as--Judge not, lest ye be judged. Hard to believe that Walter Cronkite was once with this gang of snivelling fools.
Suuurreeee, religion in charge of things worked sooooo well. Uh, huh. Hey, Andrews, pull the other one, it has bells on it!
This is a rambling thread. But I'm concerned about religious bigotry and Data Mining by phone companies.
I caught both segments last night (my dad likes the local news on our CBS affiliate, so he watches the national news on the same channel rather than change it) - I counted 5 lies from the reporter alone on the wiretapping story (not counting the lies that were fronted in the interviews and B-Roll tape).
As for the religion story - why the hell was this the top story? It doesn't even make a good "after the break" story! It was so slanted, and of course had to give proper deference to the Evangelicals.
It's immoral to believe in yourself and your own abilities?
Interesting
Really, when they forked over millions to Katie Couric I knew that their "news" would be clownish nonsense. Serious investigative journalism is also dead at ABC and on life support at NBC.
This shit makes my blood boil!!! "Morally VOID?!!!" FUCK YOU, Wyatt Andrews - secularism and atheism do not make one morally void, just as cloaking oneself in religious garb doesn't not make one a pedophile or an adulterer.
This type of attack on atheists, such as myself, is a first step in declaring war on us. I believe that conservative Christians want nothing less than a country purely for Christians, and these comments are designed to dehumanize atheists in much the same way that Jews have been vilified in the past. Religion will be the end of us all, thanks to religious beliefs like that.
MUCH more on this topic at my blog...
Are they afraid if we aren't controlled by religion we'll all run amok and start thinking for ourselves?
Yes Nicole, it is upsetting when members of the media are completely in the tank for one party or candidate, isn't it?
As a member of a Humanist religion (Ethical Culture), I am aware that morality doesn't necessarily require a fear of eternal damnation, but merely a strong concern for your fellow human, nature, and the world. To hear from Wyatt Andrews that this religion which is not based on a deity (one may believe or not; such belief is orthogonal to our central belief) implies that it is not moral is outrageous. This site gives many examples of so-called religious people acting in what my group would consider unethical and immoral behavior. Seems to me that statistically, our group might just be more moral than those clinging to the "moral" claim
FOX is State Sponsored TV @ 3:
Rambling? Not really. It depicts two separate incidents of CBS parroting GOP talking points. Sure, they're two separate memes, but they- religion and eavesdropping- aren't the subject: that's CBS.
The Main Stream Media is consolidated basically under one roof now. Thats should be obvious.
Where do you people live? "Pravda label"? Opposite to.. what? WSJ? Wash. Post? Jerusalem Post? FT? Fox? CNN?
Pravda label... compared to your illusional liberal latte newspaper?
I suppose secularism does equal morally void, if you happen to be a sanctimonious, narrow-minded, ignorant, simpering wrong twat.
(Note: this post is the toned-down, civilized version)
Is CBS vying with Fox to be the Republican station of choice?
What the fuck? CBS must want to burn up that cred they just got for the Siegelman piece on 60 Minutes.
Atheist here that doesn't smoke or drink. Also never curses outside of the internets.
Also not exactly racking up the premarital sex.
New bumper sticker.....
"F God, F Jesus, and F You and your religious crap'
I like it!
Rusty Shackleford @ 16:
Maybe they are shooting for fair and balanced. If they point out that some repubs are crooked on 60 Minutes, then they have to point out that dems are heathens who want the terrorist to win, to balance it all out.
I'm suddenly feeling so, so... morally void...
WTF?! The telecoms broke the law. Got it?! They don't get immunity unless everyone else who broke any law gets immunity. WTF people???
fwacbar @ 18:
I want one of these!
Plus the new hires that have replaced the Conkrite Era guys wouldn't know what to do if they were required to produce something that has actual substance and lacked sensationalism.
If this was the 60's headlines would be,
Martin Luther King Love Child!
Is Bobbie Kennedy a Cult?
Touch-Tone telephones may cause fingers to fall off.
Americans rush to join Military in Record numbers.
Apollo 11 crew's designer underwear.
Muhammad Ali spotted wearing Muslim Clothing.
Anti Bra advocate Gloria Steinem's secret wonder bra stash exposed.
Hate and Fear! Hate and Fear! God's gonna getcha if you don't hate and fear! Start with hating and fearing things you don't understand or things that are different. It's easy!
awwwwwwwww...and they were doing so well with the Siegelman exposé...
proof once again that corporate media is as out of touch with the people as the repuglicans are....all i can say is....thank goodness....they'll never see the rational revolution coming until it's too late.
Morally void?
Most of the evil committed in this world is committed in the name of religion.
Everybody knows that.
bmw 528 @ 1:
No kidding. I remember how calmly. methodically, and coolly Walter and these guys exposed and sent Nixon off into the sunset back then in those days.
A work of art.
right on! @ 22:
Me too. Think about it...there's nothing they could do to you except turn the other cheek. And forgive. Yep, forgiving is a pretty big part of their 'morality' right? What else, oh yeah, thou shalt not kill/murder (depends on context though I suppose) means you get to keep living, and um, thou shalt not bear false witness means they can't lie and say you're a pedophile or something. Really all they could do is say, "Tsk. Tsk. Y'all goin' to hell. Pity."
Sweeet!
L.A. Confidential @ 27:
Of course they didn't buy into, fall for, react to, or play into the moronic right wing bullshit going on in those days either.
I'm reminded of that old joke from the USSR:
"There's no News in Truth, and there's no Truth in News."
Welcome to the USSA!
I sent them this email. I used the link at the bottom of their webpage, which says "Contact Us." I didn't bother registering for their idiotic "Comments" section... they don't even read that stuff.
From your story on religion in America: “The unprecedented survey of religion answers many concerns about a secular, morally void America.”
How DARE CBS News suggest that a secular America is "morally void." It wasn't secular Americans who molested children for over 30 years while the Catholic church protected them. It was PRIESTS who did that. "Holy" men. It wasn't a secular American who did meth and had sex with a male prostitute in a hotel room; it was a Protestant minister. It wasn't a secular American who started an unnecessary war based on lies which has cost thousands of lives in Iraq, it was a "born again Christian" president.
If you're looking for a moral void in America, all you have to do is look at the so-called "religious" people who think they know so much better what it is God wants in this world. Maybe you can blame 9/11 on homosexuals and abortion in your next story about religion, like another "fine Christian American" did.
Yeah, those "morally bankrupt atheists"...
I'm always reading about their suicide bombings, and how they want to go to war, how they wish women were subservient...
Those darn atheists.
Sorry. I don't buy it.
Look at religion close enough and you'll see it's the scourge of the world. Always has been. Always will be.
Want to know where the biggest criminals are in any culture? Look who has the fanciest buildings.
Radian @ 30:
Who'd a Thunk it!
Then how does the military (for all its faults) maintain a noticably higher ethical standard with more effective self policing based on a totally secular Honor Code than almost any religous organization?
And since Bhuddism is a-theistic, the Dalai Lama is now a moral cess-pool?
greg white @ 32:
http://www.connollyco.com/discography/steelydan/royal_hi.jpg
The article states that the country is losing it's way morally, then goes on to state that almost 80% of the population are religious. Um........so......how can it be the unreligious that are morally bankrupting the nation? They contradict themselves.
Ever since the Dan Rather scandal, they've been going out of their way not to appear as the "liberal" news station.
That's Interesting news.
Because just last night, ABC premiered "a Raisin in the Sun" starring Phylicia Rashad, Sanaa Lathan and Sean Puffy Combs. There is a scene in the movie that I found strange, since it wasn't in the original movie:
Sanaa Lathan's character is talking about her belief in Atheism to the rest of her family. Her mother(Rashad), upon hearing this, walks right up to Lathan and smacks her in the mouth followed by a "No Daughter of mine will talk like that in my house!!!!"(or something to that effect). It is shocking!!! Since this is a remake of the famous movie, I immediately try to recall that scene in the original. And wouldn't you know, it was an add-in by the producers of the movie.
Interesting timing considering the CBS BS.
"morally void," If Shuster got suspended, this guy-Andrews-should too. Wyatt Andrews what a maroon. CBS should also be fined. If Janet Jackson gets fined $500,000 for showing a nipple then CBS should get fined for offending (by their own numbers) at least 25% of this country.
More idiots passing the blame buck to people that have nothing to do with it. Atheists and atheism are the pbroblem? right. Sure. They're only the tiniest "faith" group in the country, and hold majorities in no demographic statistic other than their own specific interest group. But they're siomehow directly responsible (through an absolute vacuum of evidence) for the majority of social decay, children shooting up schools, violent video games, religious people doing bad things, drugs, alcohol, the NWO, etc. etc.
This sort of blame has another name: Scapegoating.
This is why we hear absurd logical fallacies and ridiculous labels like "fundamentalist atheists", "atheist fundamentalism", "secular liberal", "far-left secularism", etc.
Religion and religious groups cannot be allowed to explain away their failings. Religion and the people who ascribe to one are the vast majority of this country, covering both (likely all regardless of significance) political parties. Such groups blaming minorities for social ills are simply shifting blame for their own actions onto someone else. And this extends to the compunction they feel to rewrite history by blaming things like the Holocaust or Soviet Russia on atheism, "Darwinism", secular government, etc. Any charge of this nature is demonstrably false if anyone does any actual reading or research on these topics. There's never been a war started by atheism, or a mass murderer propelled by such.
Quite the opposite, humanity has deified nonexistent vapors as a god or gods, or even deified themselves over others. Claiming atheism is responsible for any mass destructive or murderous event in human history is simply a lie, and one that must be challenged with vigor. Atheism IS NOT a belief. It is a simple intellectual position taken via scientific means.
Samo Umer @ 13:
Eff off!
bt @ 31:
I applaud you and give you a standing ovation for this. Well done!!! Seriously, this is great. I'm sending those ba$tards at CBS a piece of my mind when I'm off work. Thanks for the nudge!
secular = morally void? WTF are those morons on? That must be some seriously heavy pharms!
“The unprecedented survey of religion answers many concerns about a secular, morally void America.”
The founding fathers created this country as a secular nation. They even put it in the founding documents, no religious test for office, and no establishment of a state religion. Most of the founding fathers were not Christians no matter how the Christians want to rewrite our history.
The fact that we are and always have been a secular nation is by no means make us morally void. Religion has been used to justify so many evils, everything from slavery to 9/11. If people answer those poll questions have "many concerns about a secular, morally void America.” then its a testament to our educational system and not a problem with non believers.
Thomas Friedman is on Letterman tonight.
The days of "public airwaves" are just about gone.
"We" are selling them off as fast as we can.....
Corporate media are the real terrorists. It's way past time to demand the FCC break up these conglomerates or revoke their licenses for the use of public airwaves.
HEY CBS, TAKE THAT F*CKSTICK OUT OF YOUR BIG UGLY EYE BEFORE YOU ATTEMPT TO REMOVE THE SPLINTER FROM MY SECULAR EYE, YOU PURVEYORS OF CULTURAL SCUM.
It seems the want to marginalize certain segments of out society and WHY was this story even the top story on CBS news .
As far as WALTER CRONKITE , check out this video of him on YOU TUBE, excepting the Global Governance Award from the one world government cabal , the World Federalist Society . In his own words ."We need a System of enforceable laws ", a " world government " .
Don't believe me watch the less than 2 min video on you tube . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heegk07026I
CBS is really on a role this week. Too bad for you if you live in certain parts of Alabama. You didn't get to see the 60 Minutes Seigelman piece.
http://www.reuters.com/article/televisionNews/idUSN2528426120080226
from now on I'm not helping anyone but fellow pastafarians. You put out fires (and have to buy a new extinguisher), you offer gas ("Oh is it Premium?), save a kid that's bleeding to death, and what to you get. Nothing or a bunch of crap.
Just kidding, about half the people I've helped out have said thank you and offered $. Fucking atheists.
It looks like Atheists and Secularists are the new Jews. Who will they come after next?
CBS’ Wyatt Andrews suggested that atheism in particular and Americans’ widely shared belief in a secular society in general is immoral:“The unprecedented survey of religion answers many concerns about a secular, morally void America.”
Was it the "immoral , secular society" in America that had hijackers smashing planes into buildings on 9/11 ; or was it the growing contempt of American arrogance and the insistence on the furthering of Christian and Jewish "interests" ?
It wasn't Atheists or Secularists or Agnostics who commited the warcrime of illegally invading a non-threatening country, and spun endless lies and forged endless documents to do so. It wasn't an Atheist who announced to the world that "God told me to smite Saddam". Nor was it Atheists who destroyed that country,slaughtered a million civilians, bankrupted this one, engaged in endless criminal pillage, cut funding for Vets, spread Depleted Uranium around Iraq, or enabled Torture as US State Policy, it's those gawd lovin' christians who happen to be running the government. If that's their idea of "morality", we need something better.
What we see here, is the MSM doing to Atheists and "Secularists" what they're doing to Moslems: the demonization needed to enable persecution of anyone who hasn't drunk the state-mandated christiban kool-aid, Evangelical flavor.
when is the last time you heard of anyone who is atheist
committed a sexual crime, preyed on children, wanted multiple wives, committed
hate crimes of any kind, or arrested for white supremacy? you have not.
that's what you are if you are a
religiousreichwingneocon hypocrite.they have all the perversions taught at their local churches.
While our focus is on the Faux News propaganda tool (as it should be), CBS is blithely "passing" for unbiased news, in my opinion. They fired Dan Rather. Fired Major General John Batiste after the VoteVets ad, but gave entirely different treatment to CBS consultants who made PRO-BUSH comments. There are 2 network nightly news channels to switch between, for me: NBC and ABC. At nightly news time, CBS does not exist, for me.
How many secularists/atheists disapprove of torture as being morally repugnant ?
How many so-called "Christians" are all for it ?
And the "secular society" in America is "morally void" , eh Julie Wyatt Andrews ?
If people like Mark Foley, David Vitter, Larry Craig, George Bush etc are religious and "moral", I would prefer to be a secularist and "morally void". At least, I am a better human being!
ConcernedCanuck @ 36:
Amazing, huh? You make an excellent point and thanks for sharing it. It's always been beyond my understanding how so many "religious" people can be such out-and-out criminals. I guess their golden rule and commandments don't apply to them as religious people, huh? The evangelicals are one effed up bunch of sheeple, in my experience. I'm just sayin'...
The religious freaks are losing their minds because they are losing control. They're so desperate to get people back in line they'll do anything.
Fuck 'em and good riddance. Party at my house the day we can shovel the last sod on top of the hideous, evil, desicated corpse of religion.
"CBS’ Wyatt Andrews suggested that atheism in particular and Americans’ widely shared belief in a secular society in general is immoral"
"Widely shared" my ass. I heard "liberal" Minnesota Public Radio's longstanding host Gary Eichten muse, "Is it possible for an atheist to have a morality" back in what must have been 2001-2. Shortly afterwards I heard MPR host (and eventual Al Franken co-host) Katherine Lanpher remain silent when one of her guests said, "The president of North Korea is an atheist and that's reason enough to hate him right there."
Face it, an atheist is dirt even on public radio in America.
Putin's Bicep @ 38:
It's in the original play, though. It's even referenced in study guides.
Don't look to the movies for the authoritative text.
I'm sorry but ABC news is obviosly worst Pravda (next to FAUX) of the air. I still hear them refering to lieberman as a (sensible) Democrat for instance. It Would be nice to have a real news service again in this here fascist corporatocracy.
Worship or Not
It's Personal!
Sadly, condescension toward atheists is pretty acceptable on the national stage, and many of the networks have been shilling the Bush line on surveillance...
The irony of a greasy network shill marking free thinking citizenry as "immoral" after cheerleading the clusterfuck in Iraq for five long deadly years.
Get the fuck off my TV, Wyatt Andrews. Stay off the airwaves deadbeat.
.
This "morally void America" looks like:
~ Thou shall
notKILL...~
LoveHATE your neighbors...~ Serve
the poorYOURSELF...~ Do
unto othersas... you damn well please...Brought to you by the Christian Conservative Coalition Party*.
.
*otherwise known as the C. C. C. P.
.
Wow, I learned today that I'm "morally void" because I don't believe in old fairy tales about burning bushes that talk, women who turn into pillars of salt, old dudes who can part seas, and really clueless people who wander lost in deserts for like, years.
I guess if I stop to help strangers change flat tires (which I've done), have funds deducted from my paycheck for charity, and donate canned goods to Christmas drives, I'm still morally vacuous. But if I say "Yo! Invisible Hey-Zeus dude! Love ya, bro!" then when I die I'll get 72 Baptist farmer's daughter virgins and live joyously in fluffy clouds with all the popcorn and Beavis & Butthead videos I can handle. Didn't know it was that simple.
What could be more of a void...an abyss than CBS, FOX, ABC, and NBC, morally, politically, and journalistically. Religion, fear, greed, consumerism, willful stupidity, MSM engineered stupidity, and a**holes like Wyatt Andrews who should be shilling appliances at Crazy Eddies not spewing on national television are the reason this country is in trouble.
Okay, the Wyatt Andrews quote is clearly taken out of context, as he goes on to state that the study shows America remains deeply religious.
He asks the question, then answers it.
As an irreligious person, every day I confront my morals with complete responsibility for them and my adherence to them. I don't require another man to look in a book and tell me if I'm moral or not... I am morally self-reliant, thank you very much.
The ONLY show worth watching on CBS is Craig Fergason..Love Ya Craig.
L.A. Confidential @ 5:
Exactly. Atheism, at least as I have experienced it, is stripping yourself of your previous moral and religious indoctrination and establishing for yourself a set of morals and ethics that are personally significant and meaningful. That doesn't make you amoral or immoral, but I suppose it does make you different.
One thing that bothers me is that they always make it sound like it's some fault of ours that we don't have faith and attend some kind of Christian church. I speak for only myself, but I didn't wake up one day and decide to be atheist. Self-examination revealed my thoughts on faith and religion.
Why is it that atheists are the least trusted group in America? Every atheist I know are completely genuine human beings, and great people to boot.
Shadowgm @ 71:
That's not out of context. His "answer" is that America isn't really secular and morally void because the country's so religious. That's equating secularism with a lack of morals.
This is asinine. The events we call "Mythology" arose from extrordinatary natural events ,seen in the sky, which are NOT seen today.
Religion, and the basis for God came from these times. when we became 'concious' at around 700 BC we began to realize that we had a past that did not match up well with who we are and what we see.
This is the "mystical mysterious' wonder of religion. It's a personification of pagan beliefs and used to manipulate, ratherr than serve the population.
'God' was a planet, and for all these time religion has been trying to personify it. No wonder we are all fucking confused by it.
Well, if by "morally void" they mean "NOT wiping out the native populations of entire continents in the name of faith, NOT justifying and endorsing slavery of those with darker skin tones, NOT burning thousands of "witches" and sacks full of cats, NOT calling for the condemnation and outlawing of gay people, NOT robbing the poor and middle class blind, NOT helping to install the worst President in the history of America, NOT warping, twisting and retarding the minds of children by teaching them that believing in and devoting their entire lives to incoherent Bronze-Age myths will keep them from burning in hell forever"....if this crap makes the religious "moral" then, please, please, PLEASE count me as one of the "morally void! I will wear the label proudly!
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