Despite its biases and other shortcomings, the mainstream media tends to be more self-correcting than we give it credit for being. Most journalists are, in fact, hard-working, honest folks who strive to acheive the peculiar goal of “objectivity.” And even those who are less that virtuous realize the cost of missing out on a story because of preconceptions about religion (i.e., the “values vote” during the last election). It is due to these tendencies that the media has begun to take religion more seriously.
That can’t be good.
Like the tares that grow with the wheat, dysfunctional theological ideas inevitably grow alongside orthodox doctrine. Combine such aberrant views with the natural sinful nature of man and it’s not surprising that religiously based atrocities occur with alarming regularity. It is a frustrating state of affairs that can be reduced but never eliminated. As Christians, we must never fail to denounce such evils and clarify how they subvert the true Word.