Today’s Scripture Reading (June 10, 2018): Job 20
There is a war going on between the Cable
News Outlets in the United States. Headed by the CNN – Fox rivalry, the game
seems to be all about how to generate news that supports your position. This seems to be opposed to the traditional
task of proving you were the best in the news game by getting the story out
first. Now, both the Left (often represented by CNN who critics like to label
the “Clinton News Network”) and the Right (represented by Fox News, which seems
to be more about opinion and less about news) are being accused of trying to write the news rather than trying to
report it. Watching an hour of CNN broadcasting actually
reveals the game from both sides. While most CNN personalities seem to support
the opinion of the Left, there are radical voices present from the Right. And
that is part of the problem. The fight would seem to be a fight of the
radicalized on both sides with a void of centrist voices who are willing to
evaluate the situation with minimal bias. But it is the fight that sells. So
often the viewer is treated to panel participants content to just yell at each other instead of a discussion
of the validity, and truth, of the news. For much of what we call news now,
there is precious little proof. Everything seems to come down to opinion.
There are voices that I feel are important to
be heard. David Gergen is an important
voice, maybe largely due to his extensive
resume in the political arena. I always enjoy hearing Alan Dershowitz,
especially when he is teamed up with Jeffrey Toobin. The pair often attack an issue from slightly different but
centrist sides and seem very willing to
discuss the issues with a measure of political civility that seems rare in the
current environment. I could use less of Jason Miller and Symone Sanders
yelling at each other, but that is probably just me.
But I could also use less of the “news
without proof opinion cycle” that seems to be developing in our cable news. I
long for political leaders who are in the news because of the things that they
have done rather than for the idiocy that has proceeded from their mouths. And
while this might seem like a new phenomenon, apparently it is very old.
Zophar the Naamathite would have fit well
within the current political and news environment. Just listen to what he has
to say to Job in his response to Job’s defense. “Surely
you know how it has been from of old, ever since mankind was placed on the earth …” is a comment worthy
of a Jason Miller. We can interpret the words as a political way of saying “I
have no proof for what I am about to say, but you know that this is the truth. It is the truth because the saying is old and because I am telling you that
this is the truth.” Zophar’s comment is similar to “if you hold a needle over
the stomach of a pregnant woman and it swings in a circle, then the woman is
having a girl. If it goes back and forth like a pendulum, then it is a boy. You
know that this is true because it is an old saying, and because I am telling
you that is a truth.’ (By the way, try it if you like, but it is fake news no
matter how long women have been holding needles over pregnant bellies.)
The problem with
Zophar’s comment is that it is fake news, no matter how stringently Zophar
insists that it is the truth. What is about to proceed from Zophar’s mouth is
nothing more than Zophar’s opinion. And it is opinion without evidence, and
without truth.
We need a search for
real truth, but I fear that we will not
find it in our current political news. All that our news channels can give us
is their version of Zophar’s opinion because that is what gives them their
ratings. But the truth is that we deserve so much more.
Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 21
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