| Topic: |
Religions > Atheism |
| User: |
"" |
| Date: |
20 Dec 2005 06:42:21 AM |
| Object: |
Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is FOX |
Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is FOX
http://www.newshounds.us/2005/12/19/hypocrisy_thy_name_is_fox.php
News Hounds - Newport Beach,CA,USA
December 19, 2005
Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is FOX
Sunday night (12/18) FOX News aired a "special" hosted by Brit Hume. The
title was "Religion in America: Church & State" & it was hyped for days as
"the latest battleground in America's war of religion." Military metaphors
abounded, in traditional Foxian style, but there was little evidence of any
such war aside from Hume's hyperbole. The entire program was little more
than another episode in Fox's ongoing attack on our civil liberties, with
some promotion for their own bogus "war on Christmas" (TM), the nomination
of Judge Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court, & the next installment of the
erroneously named Justice Sunday.
Here are some of the military-themed phrases Hume used to set the stage &
try to convince viewers that there really is a war going on in this
country:
"locked in a legal war"
"all of those concepts have come under fire"
"to drive religion & its symbols out of the American public square"
"tour of the religious battlefield"
"every Christmas the arguing gets louder"
"fighting words"
"now even the pledge of allegiance has come under fire"
"the final battleground is the Supreme Court"
"individuals join with groups such as ACLU to start confrontations"
"religious supporters blinked"
"Elkhart, Indiana, didn't ask for a religious fight ... but they got one"
"why do these battles keep raging?"
"Americans are now fighting back."
"[a strategy] to beat the ACLU & its allies at their own game"
"[the Supreme Court] has been central to the battles over the past 60
years"
This culminated in a call to crusade, with Hume saying that the "holy
grail" of those who oppose the separation of church & state is "sympathetic
[Supreme] Court appointees."
Guests chimed in with similar phrases (e.g., "winner take all").
Fox is also very, very good at subtle bias. For example, at one point when
Hume said "the tide may be turning" there was a triumphant musical
crescendo. When Hume was talking about the "wall" of separation between
church & state (which he called an "elegant metaphor, but ignored for much
of America's history") he said that "those words would become fighting
words" & his statement was accompanied by a clash of that hideous music
that FNC typically uses to accompany war stories. And any time protesters
or demonstrators were shown, the music was ugly & harsh.
But I'd have to say my favorite part was the utter hypocrisy. During the
commercial breaks there were ads for Acura (Santa Claus & "holidays"), Red
Lobster ("holiday feast"), 1-800flowers.com ("holidays"), the US Postal
Service ("happy holidays") & Lowe's ("holidays"). There was even an ad
*from* FOX:that said "Season's Greetings." Not a "Merry Christmas" in the
bunch -- but I guess when money's involved, that's okay.
Hume signed off by saying "Merry Christmas or Happy Hannukah & good night."
Comments: The program was about as subtle as a sledge hammer, for anyone
exercising some critical thinking. For FoxFans, it probably played right
into their myth of the "poor, persecuted Christian." Every program I have
to monitor on FNC just reinforces my suspicion that they won't be happy
until we all really are at each other's throats.
If you'd like to complain to Fox about this, email:
.... This culminated in a call to crusade, with Hume saying that the "holy
grail" of those who oppose the separation of church & state is "sympathetic
[Supreme ...
**************************************************************
Posting and reading from alt.politics.usa.constitution OR alt.education
You are invited to check out the following:
The Rise of the Theocratic States of America
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocracy.htm
American Theocrats - Past and Present
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/theocrats.htm
The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
[and to join the discussion group for the above site and/or Separation of
Church and State in general, listed below]
HRSepCnS · Hampton Roads [Virginia] SepChurch&State
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HRSepCnS/
[Its not just Hampton Roads folks who are members, there are members from
all over the U.S. and a couple from overseas as well]
***************************************************************
.. . . You can't understand a phrase such as "Congress shall make no law
respecting an establishment of religion" by syllogistic reasoning. Words
take their meaning from social as well as textual contexts, which is why "a
page of history is worth a volume of logic." New York Trust Co. v. Eisner,
256 U.S. 345, 349, 41 S.Ct. 506, 507, 65 L.Ed. 963 (1921) (Holmes, J.).
Sherman v. Community Consol. Dist. 21, 980 F.2d 437, 445 (7th Cir. 1992)
.. . .
****************************************************************
THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE:
SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE
http://members.tripod.com/~candst/index.html
****************************************************************
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