Archbishop: CNN, MSNBC, New York Times Untrustworthy for Religious News
Vincent Funaro ("Christian Post," August 22, 2011)
Madtid, Spain - News outlets such as CNN, MSNBC and The New York Times are
not trustworthy when it comes to covering religion, according to
Philadelphia’s incoming Catholic Archbishop Charles Chaput.
The Catholic official spoke recently in Madrid, Spain at the Catholic World
Youth Day, and expressed his disgust with the news organizations.
Chaput preached to a crowd of over 10,000 young believers on Wednesday.
“In the United States, our battles over abortion, family life, same-sex
marriage, and other sensitive issues have led to ferocious public smears and
legal threats not only of Catholics, but also against Mormons, evangelicals,
and other religious believers,” said Chaput to the crowd.
“And with relatively few exceptions, the mass media tend to cover these
disputed issues with a combination of ignorance, laziness, and bias against
traditional Christian belief,” he said.
He feels that Catholics along with most religious people are mistaken if
they rely on media outlets such as The New York Times, Newsweek and CNN for
trustworthy and fair coverage on religion.
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The Archbishop stated that these news outlets fail to provide reliable
information about religious faith due to limited resources or because of their
own editorial prejudices.
“These are secular operations focused on making a profit,” he said. “They
have very little sympathy for the Catholic faith, and quite a lot of
aggressive skepticism toward any religious community that claims to preach and
teach God’s truth.”
The Archbishop added that the U.S. media gave a lot of coverage to the so
called “Arab Spring,” which involved civil unrest in Egypt and other Middle
Eastern countries. But feels they ignore much of what Christians endure in
those nations failing to cover persecution stories such as angry mobs in
Egypt attacking churches and monasteries, burning them to the ground and
killing those inside.
Chaput also spoke about nations such as Iraq, Syria and Tunisia, and how it
is illegal to own a Bible or wear a crucifix in those countries. He feels
the U.S. media gives very little attention to those suffering from lack of
religious freedom in those areas.
According to Chaput, forcing religion out of the public square can be
detrimental to society in the U.S.
“Forcing religious faith out of a nation’s public square and out of a
country’s public debates does not serve democracy,” said the Archbishop. “It
doesn’t serve real tolerance or pluralism. What it does do is impose a kind
of unofficial state atheism.”
This type of action enforces a new kind of state sponsored intolerance, or
a religion without God, according to Chaput.
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