Confessions of an Agenda
At the top of the page: “The New York Times Book Review, May 13, 2007.”
Just underneath “Book Review” was a large black ashtray that consumed almost half of the tabloid-size page. Inside the ashtray were a cross, a Star of David, and Islam’s crescent, all formed by cigarette butts. And below the ashtray was the bold headline: “In God, Distrust.” The headline introduced a Michael Kinsley review of Christopher Hitchens’ book, God Is Not Great—How Religion Poisons Everything.
Guess what came next? Certainly not a surprise; the nation’s leading anti-religion newspaper chose atheist Kinsley to review Hitchens’ book and showcased both in New York Post-style front cover sensationalism. When it comes to trumpeting the latest pseudo-intellectual strain of thought, The New York Times is drawn to the sensationalism it claims to disdain.
Kinsley, a kindred spirit, presumably lifted some of Hitchens’ most persuasive arguments against the existence of God for the review. I was not impressed. And then to explain the absence of “a sustained argument,” he notes “Hitchens thinks a sustained argument shouldn’t even be necessary. . . . To him, it’s blindingly obvious: the great religions all began at a time when we knew a tiny fraction of what we know today about the origins of earth and human life. It’s understandable that early humans would develop stories about gods or God to solve their ignorance.”
So the book reviewer’s premise is that effective reasoning and argumentation is not needed. Imagine, some intellectuals have reached a stage of such advanced cynicism that a not particularly well-reasoned book about the absence of God is nonetheless a “serious” book.
And The New York Times, sounding like a Greek chorus says, “Ahem.” The New York Times’ choice of a symbol, cigarette butts, is particularly revealing. Hitchens’ subtitle (generally chosen by marketers seeking edgy phrases to sell books), “How Religion Poisons Everything,” must have excited the Book Review’s editor. In today’s world, few images are more toxic than cigarettes. Perhaps the next time such a book is reviewed a profile of Mother Teresa poisoning the world can be conjured out of Holocaust images.
My criticism is, of course, of the critic and his journalistic colleagues; I have not read the book. In my reading, book reviews keep me up-to-date with an important slice of the culture while serving two practical purposes. Sometimes they lead me to buy the book, and sometimes they just provide an interesting snippet of information. This time a third purpose was served; the review’s tarted-up prominence and largely uncritical examination betrayed the agenda of its publisher. And I say this with a degree of sadness.
The New York Times has both broad and deep reportorial resources and, for many of the culture-shaping elite, is the newspaper of record. Editorial management—or perhaps even business management—would do itself a favor if those who write or edit material dealing with faith or religion drew from a deeper well of understanding and intellectual rigor.
Al Sikes, former chairman of the U.S. Federal Communications Commission, is a Trustee of The Trinity Forum. He formed Hearst Interactive Media and continues as a consultant to the Hearst Corporation, and is the founder and chair of the Reading Excellence and Discovery Foundation.
6 Responses (comments are closed) • Provocations, Faiths and Worldviews, Public Square, Thu 24 May 2007
One must not be too harsh on Hitchens. He may prove to be a greater publicist for God than he currently is against Him. It is amazing to me that avowed atheists get so angry in their belief about the non-existence of God when of course one could just ignore Him. The position of the unbeliever me is somewhat comparable to the usual tourist response to the Loch Ness Monster. The tourists come in regular droves to observe/unobserve this Beastie. They say they want to see it, but what they really want maybe is a sanitized, tourist friendly version far enough away to be admirable not able and willing to disrupt or change their lives or lifestyle. God likewise, unfortunately for atheists, is rather too virile to be contemplated easily. Of course if tourists were suddenly confronted with the real thing they would run and hide on that day of days.
This to my mind is the general position of atheists including possibly Mr Hitchens. I remember talking with the late A J Ayer some weeks before his death and discussing with him his book “Language Truth and Logic” which like many other brave attempts sought to put God or the idea of God beyond the reach of commitment,confession,prayer or logic.He admitted to me that though a dog was down in the area of the verifiable, eg the senses, the existence of God could not be disproved since his verification principle itself was unproved and unprovable.He looked to me to be a very sad and a very anxious man. The atheists can do a great work for us as my own beloved former Pastor became a Christian through reading Bertrand Russell’s book simply named “Why I am not a Christian”. No doubt to atheists there may seem great mileage yet to be had in what Hitchens says, while of course the old adage still applies that he who laughs last laughs longest. We shall see, as Pascal might have said.
on 2007 05 24
“...would do itself a favor if those who write or edit material dealing with faith or religion drew from a deeper well of understanding and intellectual rigor.”
Them be fightin words.....
well atleast around my haunts, so
the honesty is a refreshing break from conversation ever erring on the side of appeasement.
Over the last few years I have slowly read through the prophets, both major and minor. What I find fascinating is how these individuals were telling God’s chosen people that the stubbornness of their heart, and their desire to constantly seek various idols as the center of their affections, was going to cause extreme pain to the people. Repeatedly God’s chosen rejected God’s prophets.
Today, the clustering of God bashing (certainly illustrated from a man desperately running from the truth of an Almighty God) has been picking up pace at the same time that the illusion of prosperity from the largest credit binge in history is unfolding. Once this credit illusion begins to contract, men will be forced to cling to something other than their “intellectual” musings. We will all be amazed at how much more we need God than our coffee shop philosophical discussions have led us to believe. Until we cry out, “Only by you Lord”, we can expect the intensity of evil and degradation to the Lord God Jehovah to hasten and worsen.
Thank goodness our God is greater than an American standard of living, and men are but ants before his throne. I can not even now begin to fathom the future of a God who judges, having never lived through a time like my father of 82 years saw when he was a young man.
DW
on 2007 05 24
Al Sikes’ commentary is timely and right on target. The modern-day tendency to dismiss religion and faith as irrelevant not only ignores the weight of thoughtful, accumulated arguments and evidence over centuries, but exaggerates completely the “Enlightenment” thinking to place rational thought in reasonable perspective with spiritual revelation as vital sources of human understanding. Even more unfortunate is the atheistic desire of “sectarian liberals” to avoid dealing with the even more compelling personal experiences of humility before a Transcendent Being which appears to be an innate human characteristic at least when we face tragedy and suffering.
Only this morning I learned of another magnificent example of God-given strength concerning Miles Levin, an 18-year-old with a rare form of terminal cancer. His goal, with great excitement is to try to live until June 8 when his class graduates from school. In the meantime, his thinking and expressions have reached a maturity that neither the Darwinists nor the Sectarians can explain. His descriptions of the beauty of spring outside the local hospital as bulbs burst out on the trees and the first colors of flowers appear is as uplifting as the remarks of any poet I have read. He not only shares these thoughts with his fellow students but has been placing them on a blog with tens of thousands of replies pouring in from appreciative youngsters around the world. His classmates now frequently wear T-shirts with his sayings on them, such as: “Never stop fighting, but quit struggling”, and “Life is not measured by length but by the impact one has on others”. Obviously this youngster is living a rich and full life under one of the greatest trials one can imagine with vigor and with a faith that science and evolution cannot explain.
Levin has been undergoing chemotherapy for 23 months and is scheduled to share the podium with Bob Woodruff as commencement speakers at Cranbrook School graduation on June 8. His daily blog is “carepages.com”, and apparently tens of thousands are being inspired by his internet images. His story will be featured in an hour interview this coming Sunday night at 6 p.m. on Radio Station WJR in Detroit on the program “Anything is Possible” led by a person of great faith, Jack Krasula.
Frankly, some of the books decrying religion may be doing more good than evil for believers. It is rarely a winner to proclaim rationality as the only source of wisdom and yet be unable to advance one’s cause logically and articulately. It is a sad commentary that in the end those writers that decry religion and faith usually have no prescription for a good and full life. Therefore, they provide only cynicism rather than hope for today’s seeking world. Their final chapters are typically so depressing that they hardly even merit scanning………….almcdonald
Knoxville, TN
on 2007 05 28
The NY Times has a Public Editor to serve the interests of the readers. I suggest Al Sikes submit his critique of the NY TIMES book review to the Public Editor.