Judeo-Christian Values
Sunday, September 13, 2015
Judeo-Christian Values: In many Western countries there's anemphasis on a ...
Judeo-Christian Values: In many Western countries there's anemphasis on a ...: In many Western countries there's an emphasis on a Christian individuality. Most Westerners based their beliefs on Greek philosophy an...
In many Western countries there's an
emphasis on a Christian individuality. Most Westerners based their
beliefs on Greek philosophy and Judeo-Christianity. In the Holy
Bible much is centered on spiritual personalities and their vertical
relationship with God. A few of these righteous ones were Moses,
Abraham, Isaac, and Noah in the Old Testament, John, the Baptist,
Mary, Mother of God, and the twelve disciples (later apostles) in the
New Testament.
Today many Christians' horizontal
relationships may be rather flawed. Eleanor Roosevelt (1884 –
1962), an American politician and the longest serving First Lady of
the United States from 1935 to 1945 observed that “we are afraid to
care too much, for fear that the other person does not care at all.”
Still Jesus Christ reminds us to love our neighbor as ourself. In
the Scriptures such caring – the love of our neighbor, ought to be
the pilot in a Christian's walk. Jesus just knew the results of such
love will be positive.
Meaning of Life and News
An Italian Dominican friar and Catholic
priest Thomas Aquinas (1225 – 1274) was concerned about the true
meaning of life and mankind's relationship with God. Much of his
focus was on prayer and divine truth. Marcus Aurelius (121 – 180
AD), a Roman Emperor from 161 to 180 AD believed, “Very little is
needed to make a happy life; it is well within yourself, in your way
of thinking.” Our priests, good friends, members and caring
friends continue to hold out hope for individuals when they advise us
to look within ourselves in order to find the true meaning of life.
Some stories in the media provide
basically the same ideas as we endeavor to rise to our full potential
in this our secular world. Much about American minds explored by
French aristocrat Alexis de Tocqueville expressed these experiences
of our democracy in the 1800s.
Most Western journalists endeavor to
report the news objectively. This came into being through the
results of two schools of thought: a) the rationalists who believe
that knowledge could occur with experience; and b) the empiricists
who subscribe to the basis of their knowledge on observation borrowed
from the natural and physical sciences. Through a “dialectic
approach” journalists present both sides of a story leaving readers
to draw their own conclusions.
However, editorialists are free to
express their own opinions with analysis by arguing for a particular
point of view. Such writers are mainly drawn from the ranks of
seasoned journalists who have had years of professional experience.
Most are specialists and are well-respected for their incisive
reflections about the communities in which they live. Journalists
generally consider such assignments to be pearls in the world of
journalism.
Michael Pollan (b. 1956), an American
author and professor of journalism at the UC Berkeley Graduate School
of Journalism thought, “I think perfect objectivity is an
unrealistic goal; fairness, however, is not.” Pollan has to be
alluding to the fact that journalists' senses regardless of how
developed they are, will still lack perfection. Fairness however
will come to mean that although our senses are undeveloped, it's
better for journalists to aspire to being fair in reporting the news.
Love of Freedom
In the media that the love of freedom
is held up and promoted as the epitome of living successfully in
Western democracies. Currently, there are debates concerning how
individuals can explore the limits of freedom. Scriptures tell us of
total freedom believers will find in Christ. Such freedom is the
truest and best of all freedoms for there are no absolutes. There
will always be limitations which will have to be tempered with our
personal responsibilities. Freedom therefore has to be viewed in
cultural settings. In times of war and terrorists' acts, America's
1st Amendment which attests to this sort of American
democratic freedom is sorely tested:
Congress shall make no law respecting
the establishment of a religion, or prohibiting the free exercise
thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government
for redress of grievances.
U.S. Const. Amend. 1 (1791)
This vital amendment is only abridged
when national security interests are under attack. While reporting
questions will always arise concerning how will journalist address
such concerns? What effects will this law have on the tourism
industry and Americans' perceptions of foreigners of other
countries?
Wilson Mizner (1876 – 1933), an
American playwright and entrepreneur thought that “to profit from
good advice requires more wisdom than to give it.” Although the
American 1st Amendment is law and much more than mere
advice, it has proved itself to be most profitable not only to the
American government, but also to all patriotic Americans throughout
history.
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