[Generic Rant] Not to start a religion war vs free speech, but ....

A "mainstream media" organization? Really? Wiccans already have points against them thanks to heavy meddling in their history by Christians.

[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm41k7tNhVI ]

Is this form of non-investigative journalism a valid professional report on a mainstream media outlet? Someone obviously thought so....

Please don't do that. Do not say "Not to start a _____, but...."

It's like saying "Not to start a race war but _______"

Fox News is known to embellish the truth. They are also known to pass off caricatures of right wing culture off as "journalists" and use entertainment as news. Fox & Friends is not a news show. It's an opinion show like The View.

faux news is not a credible news source. it is barely disguised rethuglican party propaganda sold by screaming homonculi to a vapid, angry audience of disenfranchised (almost entirely) older white males looking for something to blame their own fall from power and grace on.

/flame war on!

I thought it was pretty funny. And Fox News is no worse than any other news source. They are ALL biased.

But they did have a point. Christians do get a lot of heat for saying Merry Christmas...though don't they say that Christmas was originally (though not known by that name) a pagan holiday?

And you know Wiccans aren't mainstream. A lot of people don't know what it's about (Halloween/Samhain is not the most important holiday) and when people don't know then, yeah, they believe what they see in movies so things get embelished. Though, really, I only noticed one man being hard on wiccans/pagans.

That and a school acknowledging wiccan holidays is a threat to their religion/moral beliefs. How do you expect them to act? (Ideally how Jesus preached, but they're only humans with human emotions and folly)

You know, reliable news source or not (rather not, as it seems now go swallow, hahaha!), I think that many people have seen this and many do not bother to test every information they get. So regardless of what we think about Fox, they sure settle some hate seeds into their viewers, or at least they intended to in this case. It is a shame the US people has enough freedom to broadcast footage of people doing this in the first place. And apparently that happens on a regular basis, too. I didn't even know such business existed at all. Awful...

To bad so many people watch the show and take it so seriously.

WestHamYank wrote: Please don't do that. Do not say "Not to start a _____, but...."

It's like saying "Not to start a race war but _______"

As in: "Don't take it as #1 (which is usually a knee-jerk reaction), because, I mean #2. As in: "this post will cause controversy by default, but read past that to see if there is other things (content) to review; don't knee-jerk respond to the first item you read / hear in order." [redacted sentence} [...], so I felt the need to clarify.

Rickie The Grey wrote: To bad so many people watch the show and take it so seriously.

Because they pretend to give out valuable or otherwise "accurate" information, and, people believe it.

Wendaline wrote: I thought it was pretty funny. And Fox News is no worse than any other news source. They are ALL biased.

If they [all media organizations] used accurate information, we could all accept the different "slants" as trivial factors to decide: favourite broadcast vs least-favourite broadcast, just like favourite sit-com vs least-favourite sit-com.

Wendaline wrote: But they did have a point. Christians do get a lot of heat for saying Merry Christmas...though don't they say that Christmas was originally (though not known by that name) a pagan holiday?

The way I understand [correct me as necessary]: (1) Jesus wasn't born on December 25; the Catholic Church [Vatican and its predecessors] chose that date to "subsume" what would otherwise be a (2) pagan holiday, Winter Solstice (it has other names). Some scholars say Jesus was actually born somewhere in April. (Don't get me started on the 3 BC thing.... )

I'm getting sick of this "Happy Holidays" thing, really, in the last few years. So what if you're blessing me in a faith I'm not part of? You're asking your deity to bless me in a given season; you're asking for something nice to happen to me. Just answer in kind: "Happy Solstice to you, too!" there's NOTHING OFFENSIVE about that!

Wendaline wrote: And you know Wiccans aren't mainstream.

No one said they are / were, religiously speaking; as individual persons, that's ... none of our business if they are or not. I, personally, am saying: they [Wiccans, and Wicca itself in general] are to be respected enough to be described accurately. If they described Christianity with the same level of accuracy, the world (all languages) would be blowing up their inboxen and phone lines!

Wendaline wrote: hough, really, I only noticed one man being hard on wiccans/pagans.

The woman did offer a surprised face at two particular comments (one while zommed in, the other: not). Maybe even SHE thought it was a little "above."

Wendaline wrote: That and a school acknowledging wiccan holidays is a threat to their religion/moral beliefs. How do you expect them to act? (Ideally how Jesus preached, but they're only humans with human emotions and folly)

I expect them to act with respect & accuracy, and, afford dignity to all religions equally, regardless of size. After all, who's making fun of Baha'i? No one. How about Sikh? Not hearing anything. Zoroastrian? (Didn't the guy on the left say that there were more Zoroastrians than Wiccans? Not derogatory, only comparative; I don't know if that's actually an accurate statement.)

I don't give a Ratus Norvegicus cargo-hauling an Equus Africanus Asinus about "Faux News" (I love that, gonna use it) because I'm VERY "left" and they're a VERY "right" organization. So what. When they falsely represent something (or disrespect something so mockingly whereas they'd respect any other group (Christians, Muslems, Jews*), then I have a problem with it: the issue, not the people.

Faith & religion (1 != 2) are VERY personal issues. when you offend faith, you offend people. We can't be a better planet if we're too busy offending everyone / everything.

jimcode3 wrote: If they [all media organizations] used accurate information, we could all accept the different "slants" as trivial factors to decide: favourite broadcast vs least-favourite broadcast, just like favourite sit-com vs least-favourite sit-com.

I agree. It would be extraordinary if the news could report the news accurately.

I'm getting sick of this "Happy Holidays" thing, really, in the last few years. So what if you're blessing me in a faith I'm not part of? You're asking your deity to bless me in a given season; you're asking for something nice to happen to me. Just answer in kind: "Happy Solstice to you, too!" there's NOTHING OFFENSIVE about that!

Ditto

No one said they are / were, religiously speaking; as individual persons, that's ... none of our business if they are or not. I, personally, am saying: they [Wiccans, and Wicca itself in general] are to be respected enough to be described accurately. If they described Christianity with the same level of accuracy, the world (all languages) would be blowing up their inboxen and phone lines!

True, but you missed my point. My point is that only one person in that group had any idea what Wicca is about. The other guy (and possibly the gal) were most likely basing their veiws on what they were taught. In Catholicism (and maybe other forms of Christianity) witchcraft is a sin. From their moral code and their limited knowledge their reaction was normal and to be expected. What needs to happen (because Wicca is not mainstream) is people need to be educated about different backgrounds. We can get mad at the kid for not liking veggies because he was taught they're icky (which doesn't help) or we can teach him what veggies are. Getting mad helps no one. Certainly not the Wiccan community. They know the truth and that's what matters. There will always be negative comments no matter what you practice. Look at South Park. They make fun of religions and people all the time...and it's funny.

I expect them to act with respect & accuracy, and, afford dignity to all religions equally, regardless of size. After all, who's making fun of Baha'i? No one. How about Sikh? Not hearing anything. Zoroastrian? (Didn't the guy on the left say that there were more Zoroastrians than Wiccans? Not derogatory, only comparative; I don't know if that's actually an accurate statement.)

That would be lovely, but not everyone is as emotionally mature or secure enough in themselves to be open and loving to all types.

So a Sikh walks into a bar... Every religion gets made fun of. Even the Christians knocking Wicca.

I don't give a Ratus Norvegicus cargo-hauling an Equus Africanus Asinus about "Faux News" (I love that, gonna use it) because I'm VERY "left" and they're a VERY "right" organization. So what. When they falsely represent something (or disrespect something so mockingly whereas they'd respect any other group (Christians, Muslems, Jews*), then I have a problem with it: the issue, not the people.

Not all Right Wing people are how Fox News might make them seem. Right, Left we're all wrong in certain ways...and let's face it, what political party has ever been known to be totally honest and just?

Faith & religion (1 != 2) are VERY personal issues. when you offend faith, you offend people. We can't be a better planet if we're too busy offending everyone / everything.

I hear ya.