Warning…This one’s a bit political…

Ok, so in reading a recent article in The Independent, I got really frustrated. I can’t help but feel as though the whole process of keeping informed and being open-minded has, for many people, completely shut down.

Actually, I think that it is running completely backwards.

Ideally, one’s mind should be open. One should read news and historical accounts from a variety of sources, and be willing and able to determine the truth on their own. Now, I know that nobody can be completely separated from their political views. I am quite aware of my own political bias through which I read and interpret news—and I think that it is fair, acceptable, and normal to expect this of anyone. As a result of this bias, there are a number of publications and authors whom I know I can trust. I know that when I read The Independent, for example, it will be rather liberal. I don’t agree with everything that they have to say, but I am often drawn to their take on events. In the same way, I know that when I listen to or read George Will, he will be very conservative. I cannot, however, discount his knowledge of history or his perspective, though I know that I do not agree with the basic political and philosophical premises on which his comments are based.

Unfortunately, I think that many people are completely closed-minded when it comes to politics and religion. Many topics discussed within these realms are pitched as having black-and-white solutions or explanations. Hardly ever is this actually the case. The complexity of the various issues is seriously underappreciated. Talk radio hosts and television news shows make it easy for people to form opinions and buy into quick-fixes by boiling each issue down to simple problems and solutions.

This is dangerous and does their audience a serious disservice.

If, for example, people were allowed/encouraged by the media and lobbying groups to look at the current Israel/Hezbollah debacle more rationally, I think that many lives could have been spared. If mainstream media in this country were to focus on the actual devastation taking place in Lebanon, Americans would have been more likely to be upset about Condi’s feeble attempt at peace, disguised as a weekend in Rome marked by the notable absence of Iran and Syria.

Instead, Israel was painted to be the more significant (and by some, the only) victim in the ordeal, thereby justifying anything that they deemed necessary to stop the rockets from raining in from Southern Lebanon. The fact that civilian casualties in Lebanon were over seven times greater than those in Israel was not fully appreciated or reported by the American press. I would like to think that if it were, the American public would not have allowed Condi to sit on the sidelines while the situation escalated. But this is probably too idealistic.

I eagerly and willingly admit that Hezbollah is an awful organization that regularly uses terrorist tactics to achieve its unrealistic and catastrophic goals. I just think that the media’s bias in reporting Israel’s forced displacement of nearly 1,000,000 Lebanese is appalling.

It is difficult for the people to hold their government accountable if coverage of its actions and the implications of its policies are a farce.