Jesus Christ, Ronald Reagan and Fidel Castro
A commentary by Don Hooser
United Church of God pastor, Austin, Waco, and Coleman, Texas
Jesus Christ, Ronald Reagan and Fidel Castro. What do these figures
have in common? The fact that mainstream media and entertainment commonly
portray all three with great dishonesty.
Jesus Christ is continually the target of those with an antibiblical
bias. Ronald Reagan is belittled. Fidel Castro is whitewashed. The main
problem? An overwhelming lack of truth.
Jesus Christ
Consider this outright blasphemy: the silly fiction that Jesus Christ was married
to Mary Magdalene, a devout follower during His earthly ministry, and fathered
a child by her. Not only is there no evidence of such events, there are clear
biblical proofs against them. To entertain such a preposterous notion is
a denial of the authenticity of the Bible as the Word of God. It is also
a denial of Jesus Christ as mankind's Savior who is betrothed to His bride,
the Church.
The current version of this accusation was launched by a novel, The
Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown. The novel's speculation about Jesus
Christ is pure fiction. But what is much more disgusting is that ABC
News on Nov. 3 devoted an hour-long TV program to this subject. Isn't "news" supposed
to be non-fiction?
As with ABC's "Search for Jesus" a few years ago, the network seems
determined to sell wild stories and conjectures about Jesus Christ.
Why is it that insulting biblical Christianity is in, but any
realistic critique of Islam or other religions is out as politically
incorrect?
In a culture infatuated with "reality shows," there is no room for the
ultimate reality of God and Jesus Christ. Consider the malicious attacks
on Mel Gibson's upcoming film "The Passion." It is too real for comfort
for those who don't want any divine restrictions on their personal lifestyles.
The acceleration of this trend in our culture and media is sobering.
The obsession with discrediting the Bible is so powerful that humanistic
journalists and other elitists are willing to sacrifice professionalism
and erode their credibility.
Ronald Reagan
CBS last week pulled the plug on "The Reagans," a dishonest miniseries of "researched" character
assassination. What was publicized to be an accurate biography of former U.S.
President Ronald Reagan and his wife turned out to be largely demeaning and
slanderous fiction. Massive protests erupted after the film's true nature was
exposed by leaks of the manuscript.
Enemies of Reagan have always tried to portray him as a shallow-minded
dolt. But he had an in-depth grasp of countless complex issues and was
quite articulate and persuasive in explaining them. I personally used
to listen to the many radio broadcasts that he made during the years
between his being governor of California and being elected president
of the United States. All who knew him testify that he wrote all those
in-depth addresses himself from his own knowledge.
The show's producers did not even have the decency to wait for Ronald
Reagan's death to try to rewrite his history. Suffering from Alzheimer's
disease, he lies bedridden, unable to defend himself, and his grieving
wife must feel immense pain at the smearing of their reputations.
Compare this with the CBS miniseries earlier this year on the German
tyrant Adolph Hitler. Hitler, being portrayed sympathetically as having "humanity," received
more favorable treatment than America's much-loved former president!
The biggest problem with "The Reagans" is that apparently much of the
film is absolutely untrue. Mrs. Reagan emphatically claims this. Family,
friends and colleagues say there is no evidence for many of the statements,
attitudes and actions portrayed in the film—and that they are completely
contradictory to the character and record of his life. What justification
could there be for such revisionist "history"?
Fidel Castro
Do our media portray every famous person in a negative light? Not at all. An
example of the opposite extreme is reporting on Fidel Castro, a hero of the
Hollywood elite. He is most often deferentially referred to as the "leader" or "president" of
Cuba rather than the brutal Communist dictator he is.
U.S. media generally gloss over the harsh realities of life in Cuba.
The many Cuban exiles in the U.S. are dismayed at the sympathetic and
flattering treatment shown to that oppressive regime. They bring up the
interviews with Castro by former CNN president Ted Turner and by CBS
news anchor Dan Rather, in which normally hard-hitting news executives
treated Castro as if they were talking to the Queen of England. El
Jefe—"the Boss"—often gets a free pass in the U.S. press
and is hailed as a hero in Hollywood.
More and more voices of alarm are being raised over the mainstream media
and cultural bias. For example, a newly released book is titled Arrogance:
Rescuing America From the Media Elite, by Bernard Goldberg. It is
a sequel to his previous bestseller, Bias.
Jesus Christ, Ronald Reagan and Fidel Castro are only three examples
of subjects that are commonly misrepresented by the media and entertainment
industries. Many more could be cited. Much of the reporting and portrayals
are not only inaccurate, they show of pattern of bias and personal agendas
designed to influence your thinking.
A commitment to honesty and truthfulness is sorely lacking in the world
today. The world needs seekers of truth—people who "test all things
[and] hold fast what is good" (1 Thessalonians 5:21).
Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and who now lives to save us, said "you
shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8:32).
He will one day return to set the world free from ignorance and deception. |
