I've been thinking about the political climate in our nation. It seems to have escalated into a full blown, take no prisoners, win at all costs, war. Use propaganda to twist the truth to make your side look good. Focus on the positives, ignore the negatives. Hire mercenaries to do the dirty work. Proclaim your cause as that of one for Righteousness and Justice. Allie yourself with whomever will make victory certain, because that is what is important above all else. Identify all who oppose you as the "enemy". For best results associate your enemy with Satan, or for a broader base of support, evil. Paint a picture of armageddon. Divide and conquer.
This seems to be the political climate in our nation. What happened to a nation built with the tools of debate and compromise for the preservation of our Union, for the greater good of the people?
Friday, February 25, 2005
Thursday, February 17, 2005
Irresponsible Journalism
I read the Op/Ed section of my local papers, as well as a few others online. I firmly believe in the open exchange of ideas and opinions. I tend to lean toward agreement with liberal columnists, but I find some value and merit in the conservative viewpoint. When it comes to free speech, I believe we, as individuals, become the filters for what is to be heard and allowed. We can choose to screen ourselves from that which we do not agree with, or can cause harm. But to ignore that which can be damaging to our society or community is irresponsible. It is with this in mind that I wrote the following letter to my local paper:
To the Editorial Board of the Mount Vernon News
From Shawn & Helen Svoboda-Barber
I am a firm believer in Freedom of Speech, but I am also a believer in responsible journalism. I leave myself open to read the viewpoints of others who I typically would not agree with. In the past six months since we moved to the area I have received your publication and read your opinion/editorial page regularly. I have found through my own observation that the number of columns and letters you publish do not favor left or right, liberal or conservative, you tend to publish equally left or right columns and letters.
I unfortunately feel that I have to draw the line when you choose to publish a column that reflects irresponsible journalism. Any column that promotes fear of a segment of our population based solely on religious background is irresponsible. I believe the Cal Thomas column published in the Thursday January 20, 2005 edition of your paper does just that. He takes a plot in a fictional TV program and items pulled out of context from a book by a terrorist expert to weave a column of fear toward an entire religious group. Columns like this one are the kinds of things that fan the flames of hate and fear in our nation.
Cal Thomas’ column is the type of column that drives people to plot violence against Islamic people, such as the case when Robert Goldstein plotted to bomb a mosque/Islamic education center in Florida. His writing sensationalizes his argument, he does not provide distinction, or define any difference between Islamic people, who live in our country peacefully, and radical terrorists.
Cal Thomas may have a valid point in his concern for homeland security, but his writing does nothing to help further the discussion of the topic. How productive can generating fear and hate be, unless your goal is to drive violent crime rates up? On a side note, you are more likely to suffer from a violent crime then be a victim of a terrorist attack.
I am herby canceling my subscription to your paper.
Sincerely,
-Shawn Svoboda-Barber
My wife and I were not planning renewing our paper anyway. I felt the need to respond to a column that did nothing to further the discussion of homeland security or terrorism. It merely laid the notion that islamic people in our country are here to raise money for terrorists and attack us from the inside, and something needs to be done because the government isn't doing anything about it. The only suggestions he has is to read the book (wish I would have kept the title and author of the boo) and watch the show 24 on Fox.
I enjoy 24, but I realize that it is fiction.
To the Editorial Board of the Mount Vernon News
From Shawn & Helen Svoboda-Barber
I am a firm believer in Freedom of Speech, but I am also a believer in responsible journalism. I leave myself open to read the viewpoints of others who I typically would not agree with. In the past six months since we moved to the area I have received your publication and read your opinion/editorial page regularly. I have found through my own observation that the number of columns and letters you publish do not favor left or right, liberal or conservative, you tend to publish equally left or right columns and letters.
I unfortunately feel that I have to draw the line when you choose to publish a column that reflects irresponsible journalism. Any column that promotes fear of a segment of our population based solely on religious background is irresponsible. I believe the Cal Thomas column published in the Thursday January 20, 2005 edition of your paper does just that. He takes a plot in a fictional TV program and items pulled out of context from a book by a terrorist expert to weave a column of fear toward an entire religious group. Columns like this one are the kinds of things that fan the flames of hate and fear in our nation.
Cal Thomas’ column is the type of column that drives people to plot violence against Islamic people, such as the case when Robert Goldstein plotted to bomb a mosque/Islamic education center in Florida. His writing sensationalizes his argument, he does not provide distinction, or define any difference between Islamic people, who live in our country peacefully, and radical terrorists.
Cal Thomas may have a valid point in his concern for homeland security, but his writing does nothing to help further the discussion of the topic. How productive can generating fear and hate be, unless your goal is to drive violent crime rates up? On a side note, you are more likely to suffer from a violent crime then be a victim of a terrorist attack.
I am herby canceling my subscription to your paper.
Sincerely,
-Shawn Svoboda-Barber
My wife and I were not planning renewing our paper anyway. I felt the need to respond to a column that did nothing to further the discussion of homeland security or terrorism. It merely laid the notion that islamic people in our country are here to raise money for terrorists and attack us from the inside, and something needs to be done because the government isn't doing anything about it. The only suggestions he has is to read the book (wish I would have kept the title and author of the boo) and watch the show 24 on Fox.
I enjoy 24, but I realize that it is fiction.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
Lent
This year for lent I decided to try and incorporate exercise into my daily life. Before having a son I exercised regularly, 3-6 days a week. When he was born I decided to semi-retire from my routine so that I could work on being the stay at home dad. Now that I have been doing that for over a year it's time to try and incorporate exercise back into my life.
The reason I make it a lenten discipline is because exercise was typically a time of reflection, a time of meditation, a time of prayer for me. Plus, when you start exercising again, sometimes you need all the help you can to get you motivated and keep you motivated. I also need to do all I can to stay healthy. Being the spouse of a priest, we don't bring in major "moolaa". With the current administration, who knows if there will be any type of support for us when we get older. It's sad when we as a society can make advances and learn better ways to live and raise our children, but then, as a community or society, we do not use this knowledge to further advance our society. We have an administration that does not seem to believe in evolution but sure believes in survival of the fittest, or survival of the "richest".
You would think that from my post I am a democratic secularist. I'll set the record straight. I am a christian, of the Episcopal variety, who has a post-modern mind. I do not feel a lot of compassion coming from the republican party, but I'm not a registered democrat. I do not think that people of faith can or should seperate their ideology from their political action. That is why seperation of church and state is so difficult to maintain. Simply put, it is to keep the two entities from controling each other and to preserve peoples right to practice their own religion. But if our religion truely represents our belief system it represents the idea of how to live your life. It contains your value system. If you act conter to that value system, then you are acting conter to your proclaimed religiouns' beliefs.
I look to Jim Wallis as a good example for appling christian values to political action. We need to have a discussion first, to find some common ground and find what we can agree with. Then move out from there.
The reason I make it a lenten discipline is because exercise was typically a time of reflection, a time of meditation, a time of prayer for me. Plus, when you start exercising again, sometimes you need all the help you can to get you motivated and keep you motivated. I also need to do all I can to stay healthy. Being the spouse of a priest, we don't bring in major "moolaa". With the current administration, who knows if there will be any type of support for us when we get older. It's sad when we as a society can make advances and learn better ways to live and raise our children, but then, as a community or society, we do not use this knowledge to further advance our society. We have an administration that does not seem to believe in evolution but sure believes in survival of the fittest, or survival of the "richest".
You would think that from my post I am a democratic secularist. I'll set the record straight. I am a christian, of the Episcopal variety, who has a post-modern mind. I do not feel a lot of compassion coming from the republican party, but I'm not a registered democrat. I do not think that people of faith can or should seperate their ideology from their political action. That is why seperation of church and state is so difficult to maintain. Simply put, it is to keep the two entities from controling each other and to preserve peoples right to practice their own religion. But if our religion truely represents our belief system it represents the idea of how to live your life. It contains your value system. If you act conter to that value system, then you are acting conter to your proclaimed religiouns' beliefs.
I look to Jim Wallis as a good example for appling christian values to political action. We need to have a discussion first, to find some common ground and find what we can agree with. Then move out from there.
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