I find it amazing in this country that people find it okay to ignore facts that they themselves present or to flat out attack someone because they disagree with their point of view. Yesterday I read an article in the New York Times about a conservative talk show host that is gaining popularity. It was a positive article about someone who has called out the NYT many times, but theyfelt that this person was worth mentioning. I’m going to leave out the name of the person as it really has no bearing on what I’m talking about. I’ve taken a few of the comments from the article and posted them here. After each you’ll get my comments on what the commenter is saying.
I am appalled and frightened by ******'s comment to the effect that God and religion are under attack. No one is attacking religion. Our president himself is a religious person. Yes, religion is less apparent in American politics today -- and American atheists are thrilled that we are no longer having offensive rhetoric shoved down our throats. Yet religion is certainly not "under attack" in America. Such comments are dangerously alarmist.
P.S. The man's statement about FEMA concentration camps is even more disturbing. Who says such things except deluded, senseless, paranoid individuals? He should seriously look into psychiatric help if he believes that the American government would do such a thing to its people.
Charlotte, Kiev
While, I agree that religion is coming under attack in this country I’m going to focus on the comment about FEMA Concentration camps and how the American government would never let such a thing happen to their own people.
There were at least 10 known concentration camps for Japanese Americans in the United States during WW2, all of which had populations in the thousands. Those camps existed on US soil under the watch of the US government. Now, if that happened then, during one of the country's most trying times, why wouldn’t it happen again?
Though competition over at Fox News is fierce, **** has to be the dumbest person on that channel. He has been ranting like a lunatic for months now about how "this has been tried (the bailouts) in the Weimar Republic, and they wound up having to bring wheelbarrows of money to the store to buy bread! It's been tried, it never works! The result is always the same!" and on and on and on.
Of course, the collapse of the currency during the Weimar Republic had not the slightest thing to do with government bailouts - the Germans were printing money as fast as they could to meet their reparations payments under the Versailles Treaty.***** is an ignorant, uninformed maniac - he'll be a hit on Fox for years.
Mike, New York
The first paragraph is simply an attack on the man. The next paragraph is interesting. The US government is currently printing money in an effort to bailout the economy of the country. He says that the Germans were printing money as fast as they could to meet their reparation payments. How is that any different that what the US is doing now? Are we not printing money as fast as we can in effort to pay companies so they can “stay afloat?” While the situations are different, and the reasons for printing money is different both have resulted in a government printing money as fast as they could in an effort to pay for something.
Putting the principles of our Founding Fathers and the Constitution aside for a moment, has anyone realized that the world is a bit more complex then it was in 1780?—
jt, Wilton, CT
Putting the principals of the founding fathers aside would defeat the purpose of them creating the documents and the government that they did. They created the documents they did because of their principles. It was for that reason they felt the government of England was acting against the best wishes of the colonies.
They used their principles in an effort to break away from a government they felt was oppressive. You cannot cast aside someone’s principals when talking about the actions they performed. The world is a bit more complex than it was in 1780 which is exactly why you should stick to your principles. There are more things that can be used to attack a country today than there were in the 1700’s.
Another Republicriminal neo-con shill dispensing lies and slander to the gullible, brain dead American people. Whey American tolerates a right wing media propaganda network run by a foreigner is beyond me. Revoke the honorary citizenship that Reagan and his GOP crime cronies bestowed on Murdoch, break the Fox Propaganda Network into community oriented, public access stations and cable channels, and send Dr. Goebbels and company back to the land down under to ply their fascist agenda.
Ignatz Farquad, New York, NY
Again, a blatant attack on a group of people. The commenter also wants to silence a free citizen because he is not from this country and destroy the livelihood that Mr. Murdoch created in this country and likens him to one of the most notorious propagandist’s in Nazi Germany. I did not find a single piece of evidence in this comment to help people make a decision, except for attacks on a person. That’s definitely a class act.
The beauty of America is that everyone has access to all the information about a subject they could want. All they have to do is put in a little effort to find it. Then they can make a perfectly informed decision themselves. They don’t have to “rely” on someone giving it them. You should never take a person’s word as truth, unless that man is Jesus. You should always use it as a basis to begin your research, but find the facts yourself so you can make up your own mind.
Do not ever attack a person because they don’t believe what you do. If you feel they’ve been misinformed help them find the information that you used to make your decision and let them decide for themselves. If they feel the information is flawed then they need to do a bit more research themselves to find all the facts.
Given the choice between become more like a raional socialist European country (which is what ***** is fighting?) or becoming a ultra conservative religious nation like Middle Eastern countries I would much rather move towards the European model.What Fox News wants, and apparently *****, is that America become a fascist religious nation like Saudi Arabia only with Christianity instead of Islam. I think people need to actually think abotu what these guys are advocating.
WillT26, San Francisco
I think this one speaks for itself. This person would rather rely on the government to provide for their needs rather than rely on their own strength. That’s what socialist countries are all about. The Soviet Union failed because people relied on the government. Once capitalism was introduced the country began to flourish. The same happened in Japan, Germany, and Italy.
No country should tell another person what religion they should follow. That should be an individual choice and should not be forced upon someone. That’s part of the reason people fled to this country from England. They did not believe they should be told by the government what to do. Christianity was the basis of the founding documents of this country and a true Biblical approach to life does not force Christianity on a person. People do not go around anymore saying if you don’t become a Christian I will kill you. I would tell you that person is not a true Christian at all. Christianity is about free will and individual freedom.
Muslim countries limit women’s rights, what entertainment and media a person can listen to, and what religions can be allowed in the country. They are not given choice in how they make their decisions. This country has news and entertainment from every viewpoint you could imagine.
No one is truly silenced.
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