CBN and Intelligent Design

[ripdog]

I was channel surfing the other night and came across an apparent news show that made me pause. A well spoken man claiming to be a scientist was talking about intelligent design. Maybe I've had my head in the sand for too long, but I. D. sure sounded a lot like creationism to me. After much discussion, the guy finally made his case for creationism versus evolution. The camera angle widened a bit to include another guy, who was shaking his head and laughing. Then he asked "When are those scientists going to get it?" Turns out that the man was Pat Robertson, who knew? I immediately resented what he was implying. The camera angle then widened a bit further to show the 700 Club logo. I felt that the show was intellectually dishonest by trying to pass itself off as a news organization. It seemed painfully obvious that they were pushing thier own agenda with such one sided "coverage".

I sat there and watched more of the show and reflected on the big stories of religion that have effected how I perceive it today. First off, I remember that Jim and Tammy Faye Baker were always in the news when I was young. I also remember being disgusted with Billy--"send me money or God's going to kill me"--Graham. I think I was 12 or 13 years old--I could be wrong. My next experience with religion was going to a Catholic high school. That seemed to have little effect on my view of religion. The nun that taught my religion class always told us "If it feels good, do it." Not surprisingly, she's no longer a nun. Then, on the same night that I saw this show, MTV showed a clip of Falwell blaming 9/11 on gays and lesbians. It was the first time I'd actually heard the words come out of his mouth, though I knew that he'd said them. I laughed as my wife's jaw dropped.

I think it's a shame that the extremist right wing religious freaks seem to have the loudest voice regarding religion. I suppose the same holds true for extremist left wing freaks as well. The link below is a very accurate representaion of the show that I saw.


The Interview (http://cbn.org/cbnnews%2Fnews%2F020902a%2Easp)

[Boris]

not that I agree with ID, but there are proponents of Intelligent Design with posts at major universities. You say you "resent" Pat's implication that scientists are wrong. To be fair, non-religious wacko's spit on science all the time. Just listen to a litigation attorney, or M.

"I felt that the show was intellectually dishonest by trying to pass itself off as a news organization."

you're the one watching MTV.

Anyways, you hear bullshit, lies and stupidity all the time from "real" organizations. I don't see what's so different about the 700 club doing the same thing.

BTW - Televangelists are not what's wrong with religion. They are fairly harmless in the grand scheme of things.

[brad]

well first of all you must realize that ... well, lets forget my opinion.

ill just tell you one fact and then you draw your own conclusion.

pat robertson said that forced abortion was 'what china has to do' and that it was ok.

later he got heat and clarified his position, which was that in his opinion it is ok for china to have forced abortion because of its population problems.

brad

p.s. you can probably do a quick google search if you dont beleive me.

As a practicing Christian, I can defend the faith, and I can defend Jesus Christ, but I can't defend the church very often....so I'm not gonna try....

BTW, you're memory is slightly off...I think it was Jimmy Swaggert or Oral Roberts who said God would kill him. Billy Graham, for all has fame, used it a lot better then the televangelists did.

RB

[ripdog]

I agree 100% with your statement about non-religious whackos being just as guilty, though I don't consider M to be a whacko. Falwell and the folks at the 700 Club make me sick, though. I realized that my anti-religious bent began with the incidents that I noted (though I may owe Billy Graham an apology). I found the 700 Club's presentation offensive. They were obviously trying to pass themselves off as a true news show, similar to the mainstream nightly news shows. I wondered how many people gave them credibility because of that fact. My first thought was that maybe the "C" in CBN was for Canadian. Then I realized where the conversation was headed. The point of my post was that seeing this show made me realize that I'm at least somewhat guilty of allowing the 700 Club religious mentality to taint my view of religion as a whole. That last fact bothers me more than anything else in the post.

[Jimbo]

Oral Roberts said God "will bring me home" if I do not raise 34 million dollars in a specific time frame in order to save his hospital. He then took more heat by accepting money from a Jai Lai operator from Florida to prevent his previously unscheduled journey. Shortly after all this bad publicity he turned day to day operations over to his son Richard Roberts. (Who by the way he and his wife drive twin Mercedes with personalized tags)

Jimbo

[CORed]

I'm going to play Devil's advocate here. First, I can't stand Pat Robertson, and I think "Creationism", or "Intelligent Design" or whatever they decide to call it next week has no more place in a science class than "Flat Earth Geography" or "Geocentric Astronomy".

That said, you expressed an objection to "The 700 club" passing itself of as a legitimate news organization while broadcasting news biased to promote their agenda. How does this differ from NBC, CBS and ABC passing themselves off as legitimate news organizations while broadcasting propaganda to promote the liberal Democratic Party agenda?

[ripdog]

Maybe the big 3 dispense thier propaganda in a more sinister manner. It doesn't seem obvious to me that ABC, NBC, and CBS are trying to further liberal causes. Could you provide me with a real story that clearly demonstrates your point? It seems to me that massive corporations would have more to gain by promoting the conservative right wing agenda, so if they are pushing the left wing agenda, they're shooting themselves in the foot. That said, I take the big 3's information in with a wary eye. I don't readily accept what they say as fact, nor do I accept what our government tells us as fact. So what's the difference between the 700 club and the big three? Nothing, if what you propose is true. Is it?