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Why do we never get the facts? An essay by James A Graves
One of the many issues that has weighed on my mind since 9/11/2001 is the apparent lack of condemnation of the attacks on America coming from the Islamic community. So, I have asked the question, “Why aren’t more Muslims speaking out?” Like everyone else, I listen to radio news and watch TV news. I heard very little, if anything, from Muslim leaders or groups. But I saw pictures of burning American flags and reports of Muslims celebrating the attacks throughout the world. Surely, I thought, the politically correct, anti-Christian, liberal press would seize every opportunity to show Muslims as peace loving people, striving to live their lives in a Muslim-hating world. So, I accepted the news as complete, so far as it goes, and wrongly decided that the Muslim’s lack of condemnation must equate to approval. But, in the back of my mind, I couldn’t help but wonder how these small groups of extremists like Al Qaeda, Hezbola and Hamas could possibly represent all Muslims. That would be like saying that the Ku Klux Klan represents all white people.
Recently, I posed my question in response to a comment by an American Muslim in a forum on the WorldNetDaily web site. I received a very sincere, intelligent reply and links to two web sites. I checked out the web sites and then completed some additional research as well.
Here’s what I found: Did you know that the Council on American Islamic Relations posted a full-page ad in the Washington Post, condemning the 9/11 attacks and the attackers? I didn’t know that.
Did you know that the Islamic Society of North America posted a similar full-page ad in the New York Times, Washington Post, and other national newspapers? I didn’t know that.
Did you know that the Palestine Legislative Council condemned the terrorist attack on the United States and sent an urgent letter of condolences to Mr. J Dennis Hasterd, Speaker of the House of Representatives? I didn’t know that.
Did you know that 1 million Palestinian students in the Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, stood five minutes in silence to express their solidarity with the hundreds of American children who have been struck by this strategy, which resembles in its shocking effects their daily sufferings? I didn’t know that. The disturbing part is that most people believe that the news accurately reports the facts. So, while being manipulated by incomplete facts, half-truths, and outright lies, people are forming opinions and making what they believe to be informed decisions. Those opinions and decisions can, and sometimes do, determine the direction and outcome of not only their lives, but also the lives of future generations. Such is the power of the press.
I, quite frankly, am sick of being lied to. I cannot read every major newspaper from front to back every single day. I cannot listen to every national news service or surf every news website every day. Even if I could, would I get the complete facts? I think not. I can watch Pat Robertson on Fox News, acting as a representative of all Christians and telling the world of the evils of Islam. I can watch reporters and newsreaders on CNN, NBC, CBS, & ABC telling the world how wrong it is for “under God” to be in the US Pledge of Allegiance and how evil it is to teach about God and Jesus in public schools, but yet fail to mention that the term “Separation of Church and State”, so eagerly used by the US Supreme Court and atheists, is not in the US Constitution.
I am a Christian and I have been taught to have tolerance. I keep asking the question; What would Jesus do? His teachings promote understanding and forgiveness. His prayer for those who condemned, prosecuted and executed Him was, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” I have tried to understand and I’m just about out of tolerance. I want to be forgiving, but unlike those who killed Christ, the reporters of the American and world press know what they are doing.
I can tolerate someone that I know to be my enemy, who hates me and wants me dead, far easier than I can tolerate someone who claims to be my friend, someone that I rely on to provide me with accurate information, who then intentionally edits, distorts and spins that information before I get it. I am unwilling to tolerate that because I don’t know what my “friend” is up to, I only know that it will not be in my favor. In fact, my “friend” who is lying to me may cause me to end up enslaved, which is, in my opinion, far worse than death.
It is a sad commentary that in this information-overloaded age, living in the most free and powerful Democratic Republic in history, we still cannot depend on the Liberal, Left-leaning Media, at any level, to do something as simple as report the facts completely and accurately.
I’m reminded of listening to Radio Havana and Radio Moscow on shortwave radio in the 1960’s and 1970’s. The Communist broadcasts twisted news about America into propaganda slanted to make America and the Free World appear to be evil, while glorifying the Communist regimes in Russia and Cuba. I was a teenager in the last half of the 60’s, watching the race riots and anti-Vietnam War riots, worrying about being drafted when I turned 18. I could easily have believed the Communist propaganda and fallen victim to their lies, but something just didn’t sound right to me—it didn’t jive with the nightly news broadcasts (which had a bit more integrity in those days). On active duty in the USAF during the 1970’s, possessing knowledge not commonly known, I heard outright lies within the drivel spewing out of the USSR via Radio Moscow. Seeing that unfold in America today is not just troubling, it’s scary.
It is also a sad commentary that the modern liberal media chooses not to report the facts, which would allow us to make up our own mind and think for ourselves. Unfortunately, today the liberal news media is all about sensationalism, ratings, money, and a myriad of misguided and potentially sinister political agendas, and has nothing to do with facts or truth. ©2002 James A Graves, Jr.
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