Bigotry Against Christians Harms The Media’s Reputation
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The Atlantic's Taylor Lorenz decided to dunk on Pope Francis for a tweet about Jesus' mother Mary, claiming Christ faked his resurrection.
Yesterday morning on “MediaBuzz” with Howard Kurtz, I was asked to explain how so many journalists could have gotten the Covington boys story so terribly wrong. I responded that the problems started with many in the media’s bigotry against Christians , conservatives, and pro-lifers.
In recent days we’ve seen reporters attack Karen Pence for volunteering at a Christian school, attempt to dig up dirt against Christian schools, and viciously attack 16-year-old Catholic boys who were being harassed by adults spewing racist and homophobic slurs. It is into this context that The Atlantic’s Taylor Lorenz tweeted the following:
Christ’s triumph over death is the central historical event in the Christian faith. It is the source of Christian hope for humanity. It is recorded in multiple sources from the ancient world based on testimony from eyewitnesses and those close to the event. You can read about it in the Synoptic Gospels, the Gospel of John, the letter of James, the letters of St. Paul, and the letter of Peter. This teaching accounts for the persona transformation in the lives of the apostles, and the spread throughout the world of Jesus’s teachings ever since.
Lorenz was dunking on Pope Francis for a tweet about Jesus’ mother Mary. It is a free country, for the time being, and she has every right to do so. I’m unclear what her religion is, but the notion that Jesus Christ couldn’t possibly have been crucified and resurrected is one with long lineage. St. Paul references the substance of Lorenz’s scalding hot take in a passage on the wisdom and power of God when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:23-25 :
but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to the Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
The Christian teachings of Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection are central to the faith, but not everyone is called, as St. Paul puts it. And those who don’t believe view this central teaching as a stumbling block, as Lorenz does.
All that said, the mockery and disrespect in the anti-Christian tweet — and its favorable reception from other journalists — tell us something about the way many in the media treat Christians. As the media lean into their progressive political ideology, they are becoming more and more anti-Christian. “ Anti-Christian Ideology Is an Emerging Aspect of White Progressive Populism ,” David French observed recently.
In addition to the tens of thousands of Lorenz followers who retweeted and liked the tweet, many journalists gave her atta-girls and other support. This includes The Hill’s Niall Stanage , who said it was Lorenz’s “greatest tweet.” Bloomberg’s Sarah Frier , Axios’ Felix Salmon , Wired’s Meghann Farnsworth , journalist Patrick Hruby , BuzzFeed’s Brandon Wall , The Week’s Navneet Alang , New York Magazine’s Abraham Riesman , The Daily Beast’s Marlow Stern , NPR’s Brandon Carter , and many others.
We all know that journalists would not mock others as they mock Jesus and his followers.
Asymmetrical Attacks from Media Figures
If not for her error-ridden article falsely claiming men and women’s brains are not different, Lorenz is perhaps best known for doxxing the children of someone whose views she disapproved of . As the children’s controversial mother faces serious and ongoing death threats from Islamist radicals, this was not an insignificant doxxing. Thus far, her article has only resulted in their firing, thankfully.
The doxxing didn’t harm Lorenz’s career. The Atlantic was so impressed with the work, it hired her for their publication at the same time it fired the just-hired conservative NeverTrumper Kevin Williamson for his long-held, if controversial, views on abortion.
Editor Jeffrey Goldberg quickly succumbed to a social justice mob demanding Williamson’s firing before his first piece could be written. The magazine had recently been purchased by Emerson Collective, the progressive media group founded by the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs. The mob claimed Williamson made them feel unsafe.
But if The Atlantic and other media outlets wonder why they have lost their reputation recently, it can look to the disparity in how it treats conservatives and their ideas and how it rewards the journalism and anti-Christian bigotry of their liberal staff.
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“All that said, the mockery and disrespect in the anti-Christian tweet — and its favorable reception from other journalists — tell us something about the way many in the media treat Christians. As the media lean into their progressive political ideology, they are becoming more and more anti-Christian. “ Anti-Christian Ideology Is an Emerging Aspect of White Progressive Populism ,” David French observed recently.
In addition to the tens of thousands of Lorenz followers who retweeted and liked the tweet, many journalists gave her atta-girls and other support. This includes The Hill’s Niall Stanage , who said it was Lorenz’s “greatest tweet.” Bloomberg’s Sarah Frier , Axios’ Felix Salmon , Wired’s Meghann Farnsworth , journalist Patrick Hruby , BuzzFeed’s Brandon Wall , The Week’s Navneet Alang , New York Magazine’s Abraham Riesman , The Daily Beast’s Marlow Stern , NPR’s Brandon Carter , and many others.
We all know that journalists would not mock others as they mock Jesus and his followers.”
So wait, making a mildly funny joke about Jesus is off limits but proclaiming Islam a religion of hate and terrorism is just another Tuesday for Christians?
Remember the lesson of the boy who cried wolf. No one believes your cries of victim-hood when you post nonsense like this. Having an opinion about Karen Pence working for a school that discriminates against LGTBQ Americans isn't an attack on Christians. Expressing an opinion about the conduct of those MAGA hat wearing Catholic school boys, regardless of who started it, is not an attack on Christians. This tweet is not an attack on Christians. Are there Christians somewhere in the world that are truly under attack? Yes, there are, but here in America Christians enjoy a diamond encrusted cashmere pedestal of privilege so listening to them whine and complain about being "under attack" begins to generate headaches in anyone with more than half a brain.
No, you wait. You just drew a comparison with Muslims. So, there it is......Tell us all about this concern you have for Muslims and why?
Having an opinion about Karen Pence working for a school that discriminates against LGTBQ Americans isn't an attack on Christians.
An opinion? That's like saying Lester Maddox had an opinion about black Americans.
Expressing an opinion about the conduct of those MAGA hat wearing Catholic school boys, regardless of who started it, is not an attack on Christians.
Ya,we know, the teens waiting for a bus invited the hatred from the ass beating the drum & some black racists.
but here in America Christians enjoy a diamond encrusted cashmere pedestal of privilege
No, I think such privilege belongs to all those whom mommy & daddy paid to give a phony education in the era of "universal education"
Well said point by point refutation of the secularist talking points.
You mean a point by point deflection of the facts.
"No, you wait. You just drew a comparison with Muslims. So, there it is......Tell us all about this concern you have for Muslims and why?"
I drew a comparison to Muslims because they are another world religion, just like Christianity. They are two sides of the same coin. They even worship the same God who supposedly made a covenant with Abraham who both religions claim as a forefather of their religion. You feel it's okay to rail against Muslims, but consider it practically blasphemy to joke about your own religion. I don't see any difference between you, so I was pointing out the undeserved double standard Christians constantly employ.
"An opinion? That's like saying Lester Maddox had an opinion about black Americans."
Yes, it's an opinion. I find it rather amusing you'd use the example of a segregationist who actively discriminated against black Americans to defend the Vice Presidents wife who apparently supports the active discrimination against gay Americans. Oh the irony.
"Ya,we know, the teens waiting for a bus invited the hatred from the ass beating the drum & some black racists"
I saw no hate coming from the native American veteran with his drum. Yes, there were some black Israelite racists there shouting and insulting the group of white boys, I didn't know that justified their decision to chant and act out racist songs directed at the native Americans present. Maybe they just didn't know what racist black Israelite songs they could have sung?
"No, I think such privilege belongs to all those whom mommy & daddy paid to give a phony education in the era of "universal education"
Ah yes, the classic conservative tactic of ridiculing higher education and calling it "phony" just because they are so poorly educated they couldn't even pass a high school civics test let alone be able to write a college thesis on constitutional law. Funny how they seem to always claim to know more than anyone else because of their "gut" knowledge about how things work and what our founders must have intended.
There is no doubt that Christians enjoy a privileged pedestal in America. I think if you ask any non-Christian they'll look at you like your joking even asking the question because the answer is so obvious it's not even worth asking.
WHERE? Nobody but you brought up Muslims
Oh the irony.
The irony was missed.
I saw no hate coming from the native American veteran with his drum.
You didn't see him walk up to a teen and band that drum in the kids face? (Btw, do you know anything about him?)
Yes, there were some black Israelite racists there shouting and insulting the group of white boys, I didn't know that justified their decision to chant and act out racist songs directed at the native Americans present.
What racist songs? Prove it with a link or apologize to those children!
just because they are so poorly educated they couldn't even pass a high school civics test let alone be able to write a college thesis on constitutional law
They are far more intelligent than all those we decided to push through college en masse. What an ingenious policy that was? Now we have all these college graduates living at home while others have corrupted our institutions to the point we can't trust even the government or the media.
There is no doubt that Christians enjoy a privileged pedestal in America. I think if you ask any non-Christian they'll look at you like your joking even asking the question because the answer is so obvious it's not even worth asking.
Quite the opposite. Those kids from the Covenant School represented the perfect target for the hate-filled left:
They were white
They were Christian
They were pro Life
They wore MAGA hats.....
Thus the lying hateful narrative from the media
It is sad the bigotry and intolerance of the secular progressives in the lamestream news media toward conservatives particularly if they are Christians as well. A great article documenting the abuses we suffer at their hands.
I guess that's to be expected when thumpers start preaching their bullshit outside of church.
I find this nauseating. Christians have lost their morals, at least a good loud faction of them. If they can't live the tenets, don't try to legislate their morality. What I see is christians getting pissed they can't legally discriminate or control certain people. Karen Pence for example. Jesus didn't teach what she practices, discrimination and judgment. I think it would be wise for christians who think they are targeted to look within and deal with that cancer. If I wanted to I would link examples of many, many, many cases showing the opposite of your op ed. I'll do it tomorrow if others don't beat me to it.
It's not the Christians. It is those who no longer believe in civil liberties or the Constitution. Are you confused as to who they are? I'll provide some help. They use the refrain "It's who we are!"
No, I specifically mean the Pence christian crowd, and evangelicals. It isn't moral to lie, daily, to enable hate and use it for power. To discriminate against whatever particular group gets the laser - women and their fertility, gays, often minorities, other religions, liberals....... Who I am is someone who can't stand amoral lying hypocrites who like to control others. Who pass judgements on others, not requiring the same behavior of themselves.
Nope, all correct, stand by my words.
And you associate all that with Mike Pence and Evangelicals, hum...I associate it with progressives
Well you believe the pathological liar Trump, so I don't expect you to recognize what the rest of us do. Trump world is 'different'.
I recognize it and I will try and prevent it
As do I. They are the focus of all that is going wrong in America.
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Pretty sure both were deemed inappropriate.
Really? What was inappropriate about the school boys in DC waiting for their buses to arrive to take them home? There is no moral equivalency here!
I was responding to a specific post by JumpingJackFlash. Do you want to address that post, or act as if my response to one question is or even should be the same as my response to a completely unrelated question?
It's the truth, I see when the truth makes the left uncomfortable, it is censored. Perhaps this is not the forum for me. I post on forums to make folks aware of the truth. I see only approved truths are welcome here
Odd. You're complaining that the pic you posted wasn't found to be inappropriate, but you're complaining about it being removed (because it was found to be inappropriate).
That could very well be. Everyone knows where the door is.
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Hopefully our new member will hold out and stick around for awhile. It figures that some on the left want to show him the door.
They were assembled in an area that was permitted for the exclusive use to another group.
The only truth you post is what you personally consider truth, nothing more
So the left is responsible for his comment. I find the comment highly hypocritical.
They were in a public area waiting near the street for bus transport to pick them up. They weren’t there to rally or protest anything as their event pro life event was over. So they did nothing wrong.
Did you see that ? Not left or right, we all know how to click out of a web site.
No they weren't. They were in a federal area permitted to another group.
If I'm banned or infracted for the above, then this aint the forum for me. Is it disgusting? Yes, very much so. As is the complicitcy of the media, in normalizing such deviancy. How the people involved in this disgusting crap were not arrested for child abuse, speaks volumes about society.
At least Christian morality does not preach this crap as "normal".
A society devoid of morals descends into an abyss where anything goes.
And yet, it's Christianity that's bad, right?
No, they teach that a serial liar and narcissistic pussy grabber who cheated on all three of his wives is "normal".
No, we never said what he did was normal. We decided that he was warts and all a better choice than the alternative who to us is the epitome of all that is evil in this world. We elected Trump to be our President not our pastor. That he wasn’t her was enough to vote for him. Then there was the judges, the tax cuts, deregulation, national defense, energy, and border security, religious liberty, all great reasons to support him and not her.
Funny, you hold Democrat leaders to moral standards? So now it was Christians who elected him? What % of the vote was Evangelical? Except for the three wives part, you just described old Bill C.
You are also spreading a lie, he said "when you are a star, you can do anything, even grab them by the pussy"
One would almost think he said, "I DID grab them by the..." in a court of law.
I know the conservative knee jerk reaction to being called out on the conduct and character of their candidate is to deflect with 30 year old non-news that doesn't in anyway justify Trump behavior, but it's getting really old.
Have you used that excuse yourself? Have you cheated on your wife recently and when caught said "Hey babe, Bill Clinton did worse, so that means I'm a saint, right?"...
but...but...blow jobs aren't SEX!
Blow jobs are sodomy which is still illegal in 14 States due to their unconstitutional religiously motivated "blue" laws.
If you look at the map in the link, just think about all those States where by law, no one is ever supposed to give or receive a blow job even in the privacy of their own bedrooms. If you live in one of those States and have ever given or received a blow job, even if from your wife or to your husband, in the privacy of your own home, you broke the law.
That brings this full circle back to the point that Christians are not only not under attack, they actually have their own Christian/Sharia laws in place in many States.
If he was a Republican chances are greater that the intern would have been male and underage.
'Did'? How about what he DOES every day? Trump lies every day and Evangelicals say 'So what'.
His comment was about Christian teachings, not Democratic leaders.
No comment was made about electing anyone.
Evangelicals hair should be on fire even MORE than they were for Bill Clinton then right?
Is misquoting spreading a lie too?
Are your moral judgements only triggered by what someone states in a court of law?
Which is undoubtedly why the Catholic Church welcomed Gingrich with open arms. /s
Did you forget that YOU didn't vote for Trump Xx?
Busted...lol
Well said. The bias of the media and the double standard of what it will allow the secular left to do without negative comment and how quick they are to bash conservatives and Christians knows no bounds. It’s about time that they get called out.
They don't like hearing it, but the media (by and large) are the enemy of the people, we see more examples on a near daily, basis.
It's a sick world and it's only getting sicker. Ever seen the music video for the song "enema" by Tool?
It's prophetic.
One should clean their own back yard before they start.
And yet time and time again the Catholic church has to admit to child sex crimes.
Mega church ministers rallying against gays get caught with some guys dick stuck in one of their orifices.
Conservative christian politicians taking underage same sex prostitutes across state lines.
The so called Christian right had a field day accusing Clinton of all sorts of sick things while associating him with Jeffery Epstein....that was until it was discovered that Trump's relationship with Epstein was even deeper and documented including Trump admitting to know Epstein for 15 years.
Suddenly they were silent.....
Want to blame the media for that too?
This is real persecution against Christians. This poor woman was convicted of blasphemy because she dared to share a bucket of water with a Muslim
KMA....your cries of persecution are tiresome.
Liberty U and all the rest. Media to blame?
Well, when it comes to 'the small c' christians its always best to carry two sheepskins in case one needs to cover one with the other.
One thing that can always be counted on is an Evangelicals' persecution complex.
There is no complex. The persecution is real and the msm and their so called fact checkers are leading the charge against us.
Does the point that fact checkers were needed not tell you something?
....”One striking feature of left-wing hostility to conservative Christianity is its insistence that opposition to secular progressive morality is proof of malign intent. Instead of asking whether progressive intolerance (or the selection of a corrupt Democratic candidate) played any part in the 81 percent white Evangelical opposition to Hillary Clinton, all too many progressives use that level of united opposition as grounds for further hatred. And, yes, there’s also the condescending sympathy: “They’re brainwashed by Fox. They’re voting against their interests.”
Last summer I wrote an essay called the Great White Culture War . In it, I argued that a great deal of America’s political division isn’t just explained by the division between white Americans and racial minorities — there are also immense cultural divisions within “white America” itself. And in few areas are those cultural divisions more stark than in religious belief. According to Pew Research Center data , 72 percent of white Republicans believe in the God of the Bible. Only 32 percent of white Democrats share that belief. That’s a stunning gap, especially considering the historical dominance of the Christian faith in the United States.
Our culture war is also a religious conflict, and that means progressive populism will almost certainly continue to trend against conservative Christianity. And as this happens, it will be increasingly difficult to confine our differences to the political realm. The fear and loathing will extend to individuals. It will mean more attempts to destroy lives and limit individual liberty. And when it does, our divide will only grow.
Hostility to traditional, orthodox Christianity is no longer confined to the white progressive elite. It’s now popular in the white Left. Liberal elites who attack traditional Christian beliefs and express contempt for traditional Christians aren’t demonstrating their disconnect from America, they’re giving their constituents exactly what they want........”.
What a waste of reading that was!
Simplistic for the basic reading skills of a 3rd grader and chock full of conservative dog whistles.
Since you had no quotation marks to this paragraph it would appear you are claiming to write this.
Ok, this is really funny coming from you because you're an Evangelical...who are most definitely NOT traditional, Orthodox Christians