I had a similarly harsh awakening when I went to one of the house parties organized by MoveOn.Org to watch "Outfoxed" this summer.
I was shocked that such massive misinformation is tolerated and encouraged, and I was even more profoundly shocked when I mentioned "Outfoxed" to one of my Sci-Fi friends in an e-mail, and got a response from him which bordered on the profane and suggested that I had just poisoned his dog and buggered his mom.
No possibility of debate, no room for discussion. Finis.
Your religious analogy seems appropriate.
On the other hand, I'm reminded of Orson Scott Card's introduction to his collection of "religious" sci-fi stories, Cruel Miracles, in which he asserted that most of what passes for 'religious' literature in America is actually more properly described as 'devotional' literature. Card argued (quite effectively, given my own religious heritage, which emphasizes education and a search for truth) that a real religious discussion asks the Big Questions (is there a purpose for our life? is there a purposer? etc.), but that it is devotional literature and discussion which assumes that we already know all the answers and focuses on reinforcing and congratulating ourselves on already having the Only Truth.
The Fox News cult seems to me a purely devotional phenomenon, rather than religious in the sense of seeking after truth. And I've recently heard a scholar who's considerably more conservative than I am (David Dark, author of Everyday Apocalypse) touting his new book which suggests that any kind of unquestioning allegiance -- even to the U.S.A. -- is part of the "powers and principalities of this present darkness" against which Paul argued. Right or Left, if we've come to the point where we can't talk peaceably to anyone who doesn't already agree with us in every detail, he argued, we're pretty far removed from anything like real religion.
no subject
I was shocked that such massive misinformation is tolerated and encouraged, and I was even more profoundly shocked when I mentioned "Outfoxed" to one of my Sci-Fi friends in an e-mail, and got a response from him which bordered on the profane and suggested that I had just poisoned his dog and buggered his mom.
No possibility of debate, no room for discussion. Finis.
Your religious analogy seems appropriate.
On the other hand, I'm reminded of Orson Scott Card's introduction to his collection of "religious" sci-fi stories, Cruel Miracles, in which he asserted that most of what passes for 'religious' literature in America is actually more properly described as 'devotional' literature. Card argued (quite effectively, given my own religious heritage, which emphasizes education and a search for truth) that a real religious discussion asks the Big Questions (is there a purpose for our life? is there a purposer? etc.), but that it is devotional literature and discussion which assumes that we already know all the answers and focuses on reinforcing and congratulating ourselves on already having the Only Truth.
The Fox News cult seems to me a purely devotional phenomenon, rather than religious in the sense of seeking after truth. And I've recently heard a scholar who's considerably more conservative than I am (David Dark, author of Everyday Apocalypse) touting his new book which suggests that any kind of unquestioning allegiance -- even to the U.S.A. -- is part of the "powers and principalities of this present darkness" against which Paul argued. Right or Left, if we've come to the point where we can't talk peaceably to anyone who doesn't already agree with us in every detail, he argued, we're pretty far removed from anything like real religion.