God's Warriors

CNN aired a 6-hour series this week called "God's Warriors", about people claiming to represent Judaism, Islam, and Christianity who fight for their beliefs in the public square. Some are more radical and violent than others, but overall I thought Christiane Amanpour did a great job of telling their stories and letting the audience come to their own conclusions. Naturally, I was particularly interested at how Christians in America would be portrayed. The media usually loves to give lots of airtime to the most extreme nut-jobs they can find, which only confirm people's misconceptions about the faith as a whole. I was bugged (though not surprised) to see the majority of coverage go to people like Jerry Falwell and the extremely conservative Southern Baptist Convention. I've never been a fan of those groups, and they certainly don't represent me, or most Christians I know, but it's inevitable that the loudest, most obnoxious people are bound to get the most attention. Certainly everyone has a right to lobby our government on behalf of the issues most important to them. That's the democratic process at work.

Personally, I prefer to stick to voting, or perhaps signing the occasional petition or letter to my congressman. I'm just not into rallies, phone calls, bumper stickers, and making lots of noise. Most of my friends feel the same way, but that's too boring an approach to warrant screen time, I guess. I care about politics, and like to educate myself about the issues, history and current events. But in my view, a person's vote is a decision everyone has to make on their own, based on their conscience and their understanding of the facts, and they have a right to come to their own conclusions without being harassed by the other side. A good debate can be healthy, so long as both parties actually want to discuss the issue (one is not imposing on the other), and if they stick to the facts while respecting the other's right to disagree. I'm on a couple of internet discussion boards where we do just that, but emotions are kept out of the debate so nobody takes it personally. I've discovered that you can learn a lot if you're able to have an honest discussion with the other side without getting easily offended.