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Why Al Sharpton Was Not A Bigot
14.5.2007
By Sam Smith - Opinion |
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May
14, 2007
ALTHOUGH the media - brainwashed by years of
religious propaganda - hasn't discovered the fact,
it is a lot harder to be religious bigot than it is
to be an ethnic or homophobic bigot. The reason is
that in the latter cases, the target has no choice.
Religion like politics, on the other hand, is a
personal choice and fully debatable.
To be a religious bigot you have to actually do
something that hurts the other person other than
merely disagreeing with their beliefs. Thus the
Kurdish Yezidi men who
recently stoned to death a young woman 'Dua Khalil'
who was dating a Sunni Muslim and may have become
one herself were clearly religious bigots.
Al Sharpton, who doesn't think much of the Mormon
religion, isn't and it was perfectly fine - whether
one agrees with him or not - for him to say in a
debate with Christopher Hitchens that "those of us
who believe in God" will defeat Mitt Romney's bid
for the presidency.
The farcical nature of the excessive coverage of
this incident is emphasized by the fact that media
is not calling Hitchens a bigot even though he
thinks all religionists are nuts.
Now that free thinkers are beginning to come out of
the shadows, it is worth taking on this issue
because it reflects the submerged bias of the media
on religious issues. The implicit argument of the
press is that anything less than respect for all
religions - except for Islam these days - is
bigotry.
In many instances, though, it's just common sense.
Most of the major conflicts in the world today, for
example, are being driven by religionists of one
sort or another. And while most Mormons behave
themselves, their religion's history is replete with
con artists, violence and practices hardly worthy of
respect.
Of course there are plenty of similar examples in
traditional Christianity, Judaism and Islam. In each
case, however, it is not bigotry to be disrespectful
of the dark side of a religion.
If the media were truly objective it would not
contribute to the sacred bubble placed around
religion. It would feel no obligation to protect
myths just because they stem from religions. And if
Al Sharpton doesn't think Mormons believe in a real
God than he has an absolute right to say so without
being hassled by a sanctimonious press.
My rule on these matters is simple: if what happens
in the pew and the pulpit stays in the pew and the
pulpit, fine. But if it comes out on the street and
plants a false halo on politicians "of faith" or
makes life harder for women or gays or causes wars
that shouldn't be fought or spends money places it
shouldn't be spent, then religions have to play by
politics' rules just like everyone else. They can't
cry "bigotry" when they say or do something cruel or
when their mythological God is carded trying to get
into someone else's heaven. That's not bigotry,
that's just politics.
EDITED BY SAM SMITH
Since 1964, Washington's most unofficial source
prorev com
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