Ira Glass is an atheist. As he explains in this interview with author Jim Henderson —which took place in October of last year but was spotlighted this week on the culture and education site OpenCulture.com—Glass grew up going to Hebrew school, but he embraced atheism during his teen years.
To hear Glass tell it, he didn’t have any animosity toward faith. He simply reached a point where atheism made more sense to him than God and the Bible. “I feel like there wasn’t even like a moment of revelation,” he told Henderson. “It was a dawning on me that the story of the Bible didn’t really seem to add up.”
Glass wasn’t hurt by the church or religion. He didn’t have an ax to grind. He simply didn’t believe.
But for Glass, a man whose career has been predicated on seeing people not just for what they profess to believe but instead by the stories their lives represent, Christians are just like everyone else. They’re real people, with real stories to tell.
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Glass goes on to say many groups in America feel the media covers them poorly, but Christians seem to get it “especially bad.” He says while making This American Life, he noticed many television shows and movies would depict Christians “as these hot-head, crazy people.” This depiction didn’t match his own experience with Christians he knew personally.
“The Christians in my life were all incredibly wonderful and thoughtful and had very ambiguous, complicated feelings in their beliefs. And seemed to be totally generous-hearted and totally open to a lot of different kinds of people in their lives,” he says.
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For Glass, what helped him see the media depiction of believers was unfair wasn’t how well the Christians he knew defended their beliefs—it was their actions. It was the way they lived their lives. It was their stories. He may disagree with the principles of their faith, but the Christians he came to know lived lives that told stories of kindness and generosity. It's hard to argue with those stories.
This article focuses on US mainstream media - news and entertainment - but I'm sure this issue isn't peculiar to the US. I don't work in the mainstream media (or alternatives), so beyond recognizing the issue, having a healthy skepticism of media "news" reports and portrayals, speaking up about it on occasion, there's not much I can to to affect the issue. And there's less than nothing to be gained from whining or getting bitter. What I can do - and this is powerful - is to show my neighbors, coworkers and other I meet what a real Christian looks and acts like. If enough Christians do that mainstream media "news" and entertainment portrayals will be shown for the unreality they are. Clearly, this atheist, Ira Glass, has such people in his life ... and who knows what the Holy Spirit might work in his heart?
I don't find it surprising but I wouldn't confine it to just Christians, pretty much anything on the news is beat up to an extreme example to boost their ratings.
1Tim1:15-17
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.Amen.
Daniel, that certainly has a lot of truth on a general level. A crazed gunman shooting up a mall is certainly more likely to get news coverage than ten thousand Moms and Dads helping their children's Scout troops or soccer teams and helping their children with their homework every night. BUT there are also some substantial biases in news media coverage and entertainment media portrayals. How often are Pro-Life people represented as decent people concerned about what they perceive as wrong, and how often are Pro-Life people portrayed as dangerous tyrannous would-be theocrats? How often is "Fundamentalist" used as an epithet for bigots and murderous crazies, and how often to describe the decent members of the local Independent Fundamental Baptist? There are quite a few other such distorting disproportions - gun owners, TEA Party people, "social conservatives", and more.
“The Christians in my life were all incredibly wonderful and thoughtful and had very ambiguous, complicated feelings in their beliefs. And seemed to be totally generous-hearted and totally open to a lot of different kinds of people in their lives,” he says.
...
For Glass, what helped him see the media depiction of believers was unfair wasn’t how well the Christians he knew defended their beliefs—it was their actions. It was the way they lived their lives. It was their stories. He may disagree with the principles of their faith, but the Christians he came to know lived lives that told stories of kindness and generosity. It's hard to argue with those stories.
I am glad, he at least made this observation.
And well, to the 'real' Christian stories: My own one is, well, 'not real'.
But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good.
-- 1 Thessalonians 5:21
For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus.
-- Philippians 1:6
PeteSinCA wrote:Daniel, that certainly has a lot of truth on a general level. A crazed gunman shooting up a mall is certainly more likely to get news coverage than ten thousand Moms and Dads helping their children's Scout troops or soccer teams and helping their children with their homework every night. BUT there are also some substantial biases in news media coverage and entertainment media portrayals. How often are Pro-Life people represented as decent people concerned about what they perceive as wrong, and how often are Pro-Life people portrayed as dangerous tyrannous would-be theocrats? How often is "Fundamentalist" used as an epithet for bigots and murderous crazies, and how often to describe the decent members of the local Independent Fundamental Baptist? There are quite a few other such distorting disproportions - gun owners, TEA Party people, "social conservatives", and more.
I guess you are in the USA, it is a lot different in Australia. I don't see these bias's here as much, it seems to be a more rounded view here.
1Tim1:15-17
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory for ever and ever.Amen.
This is easily the most international discussion board I've been on. I'm on two news/politics boards, which are almost entirely US, and a computer repair board, which has some members from EuroLand. I'm continually, here, thinking twice about whether I'm saying something that might be less than clear to some one from outside of North America.
