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October 2, 2006CBS’ “FreeSpeech” a barn-burner - UPDATEDIf you didn’t see it, you need to watch the video or read the text of “FreeSpeech” guest, Brian Rohrbough, who lost a child at the Columbine massacre. He said, in part: This country is in a moral free-fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum, expelling God from the school and from the government, replacing him with evolution, where the strong kill the weak, without moral consequences and life has no inherent value. We teach there are no absolutes, no right or wrong. And I assure you the murder of innocent children is always wrong, including by abortion. Abortion has diminished the value of children. Lots and lots of comments being left at CBS, and aside from a few people who appreciate that “free speech” means that controversial and unpopular views get aired, and that such an airing is useful in promoting dialogue, most of the comments fall into the “left” and “right” camp. Folks on the religious right are beside themselves to finally hear their views espoused in a network broadcast, folks on the left seem like they can’t quite grasp the concept of “free speech” and are making noises that such a man shouldn’t be allowed to talk on network television. They are simply not as accustomed as folks on the right are to hearing speech (on a network newscast) that offends their sensibilities. What I found interesting was that some on the left were very angry that Rohrbough dared “politicize this tragedy.” Well, I agree, sort of. I hate it when anyone uses a tragedy to advance their own agenda. But the folks on the left, so “appalled” by Rohrbough’s statement, indicate by their own comments that if only he’d talked about “gun control,” why…that wouldn’t be “politicizing” the event at all…that would just be talking sense! (UPDATE: A perfect example is this comment:) Your newscast and this segment concept are both outstanding. However, CBS News has a responsibility to the American people to filter out ignorant, intolerant individuals who link the teaching of evolution to school violence, or who use a major tragedy to spew uneducated anti-choice rhetoric. CBS can and must do better. I hope the next few days will bring free speech that considers the role of gun control and access to mental health care in our country. Such discourse will lead to far more progress against future shootings in our schools than promoting hocus pocus over science and medicine. [emphasis mine- admin] “Yeah, that guy last night, you shouldn’t have put him on the air, he should be marginalized, shut up and “filtered out” and his ignorant ideas and agendas, too! Now, if you just put someone up there with my ideas and my agenda, that will be fine. Those are proper and correct ideas which should never be filtered or in any way shut up.” What a tolerant sort! What an open mind! The country is long overdue for a sane dialogue on expressions of faith in the public school - one that does not descend into paranoid secularist ranting or religious shivers. While I am not in support of a public school “teaching God,” I have never understood why a child’s own, individual faith expression is so terrifying to the ACLU and others. A personal expression of faith by a valedictorian, or a third grader, is in no way a “state sponsored or enforced” religious expression. It’s simply a kid telling what he or she believes, and it should threaten no one. Rather, in our “tolerant” era, you’d think that such self-expression would be applauded. After all, how are we supposed to “honor the whole student” and “celebrate diversity” if the students are not permitted to discuss one whole aspect of who they are? Really, people need to cool down and stop foaming at the mouth about every damn thing. Once upon a time, public schools began with a moment of prayer, and somehow the students managed to grow up and get on with their lives without being hobbled by the experience. I don’t think the prayer should be vocal. I don’t think students should be made to say any particular prayer…but I really think the hyperventilating resistance to allowing one minute of “silence” during which a student may pray (or not) has been a tremendous over-reaction, too. I think what really sent some people over the edge, though, was Rohrbough’s assertion that “Abortion has diminished the value of children.” It’s a real question that deserves real contemplation and will not be served by “every child a wanted child makes them even more valued” stock answers. How do a million abortions a year affect our concept of children in general? Does aborting “imperfect” or Downs Syndrome kids affect how we look at every child, make us ever more aware of the less attractive, less athletic, less “perfect” kids? How does abortion affect our concept not only the value of our children, but of the elderly and non-productive? Hard questions that too many really don’t want to have to deal with. Anyway, check back to the CBS site today - Couric addresses some of the feedback from the FreeSpeech segment here. I give CBS props for re-invigorating the whole concept of “free speech” which has become a quaint notion to so many people, left and right, who talk the game but shudder to actually hear what they’d rather not. UPDATE: I have some thoughts on Couric’s Notebook piece today are here and they’re not so positive… Vaughn Ververs at Public Eye has typically insightful commentary this episode. Meanwhile, Dr. Helen is writing about these school killers and also talking to Hugh Hewitt about it. WELCOME: Instapundit readers! While you’re here, please look around. Blogging has been lighter than usual, but over the past few days we’ve been discussing the destructive idea that “only religious people kill or run amok”, the need for moderate Muslims to unambiguously declare themselves, the disappointment of baby boomer politicians, how presidential one Rudy Giuliani is looking these days compared to almost anyone else, some stuff Bill and Hillary forgot and matters of faith and reason and forced conversions. If you check back later, I plan to put up a recipe for baked oatmeal that will bring you to your knees! http://theanchoressonline.com/2006/10/02/cbs-freespeech-a-barn-burner/trackback/ 26 Responses to “CBS’ “FreeSpeech” a barn-burner - UPDATED” |
October 2nd, 2006 at 11:00 pm
I’m not a particularly religious person so my take on this is a bit different than yours, but I do think ultimately we arrive in the same place.
Our country is has a history of individual freedom combined with respect and responsibility towards society as a whole. We’re doing pretty well on the individual side (despite what some try to claim) but we now seem to have lost our way with respect to responsibilities we have to the rest of society. Religion addresses that issue, but there isn’t any tolerance for it, or for anything that seems to be teaching the same thing.
But just so you know, it’s all about me and my self esteem is high. That’s what really matters anyway.
October 3rd, 2006 at 3:53 am
It’s a common pattern for people to “foam at the mouth” most sudsily over things they’re unable to prove and are a bit unsure of themselves. Without substantiation to hand, they can’t respond to a dissenter except by trying to shout him down. Doesn’t that cast a light on the matter of religious expression in schools, to say nothing of the fracas over the teaching of evolution as fact?
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:14 am
[...] Weave in the personal faith issue where The Anchoress writes on Brian Rohrbough, father of a Columbine victim: [quoting Rohrbough] This country is in a moral free-fall. For over two generations, the public school system has taught in a moral vacuum, expelling God from the school and from the government, replacing him with evolution, where the strong kill the weak, without moral consequences and life has no inherent value. [...]
October 3rd, 2006 at 8:48 am
Abortion has diminished the value of children.
Abortion cheapens the value of human life. I wonder what kids think when, growing up, they are taught it’s OK to kill little brother or big sister before they’re born. It’s certainly a lesson in selfishness at the least.
October 3rd, 2006 at 1:02 pm
At Leat They’re Consistent
The Anchoress writes about reactions to a Free Speech segment on Katie Couric’s evening news by Brian Rohrbough, who lost a son in the Columbine school shootings. An excerpt:This country is in a moral free-fall. For over two generations, the
October 3rd, 2006 at 1:04 pm
Why does Darwin’s theory of evolution always have to be trotted out as the enemy of God?
Just as a willful misreading of the exclusion clause has led to the mindless censoring of children’s religious expression in the public square, a willfully ignorant reduction of Darwin’s insight to a soundbite — “where the strong kill the weak” — has led to the disingenuous attempt to force the religion of one group — in this case believers in “Intelligent Design” — upon other people’s children.
As I blogged awhile back, “Render unto science, that which is of science. Render unto God, that which is of God”:
“There is a grandeur in this view of life”
October 3rd, 2006 at 1:37 pm
Why does Darwin’s theory of evolution always have to be trotted out as the enemy of God?
Just as a willful misreading of the exclusion clause has led to the mindless censoring of children’s religious expression in the public square, a willfully ignorant reduction of Darwin’s insight to a soundbite — “where the strong kill the weak” — has led to the disingenuous attempt to force the religion of one group — in this case believers in “Intelligent Design” — upon other people’s children.
As I blogged awhile back, “Render unto science, that which is of science. Render unto God, that which is of God”:
http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu/2005/08/_darwin_said_sc.html
October 3rd, 2006 at 2:06 pm
Not All Are Crazy About Free Speech
The Anchoress looks at a recent (and very moving) installment of CBS’s Free Speech segment about school violence from a Columbine parent, and also to some of the reaction the commentary received.Lots and lots of comments being left at CBS,…
October 3rd, 2006 at 3:21 pm
I would be quite content to join with you in calling for an increased level of discourse about religious faith in our schools if we could all agree that the discourse could freely embrace ALL religious faiths. Unfortunately many of those holding to this position wish only one religious faith, theirs, to be discussed. All others are not permitted, or worse are punished.
If there is one religious view that is to be excluded from the discourse (Satanism, Voodoun, Wicca, Animism, or whatever) then all must be excluded.
October 3rd, 2006 at 3:47 pm
Take advantage of the teachable moment:
1) Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but you don’t have to know anything to have one.
2) Free speech is essential to society — which implies the freedom to offend. The freedom to offend doesn’t imply the necessity.
3) To suggest someone may be mistaken obliges one to consider why the suggestor may be mistaken. Humility is a cornerstone of society and demands a conversation, not a lecture.
4) Religion may help order one’s internal peace, but it is not useful as a basis for society because that would need others to believe. Belief cannot be compelled.
5) A stable moral framework accross cultures does not require religion, it requires deducting from personal experience what will project shared future stability. Hint: Try humility and reciprocity.
October 3rd, 2006 at 3:52 pm
Our Schools in Moral Free Fall
If you did not get the chance to see the commentary last night on the CBS News “Free Speech” segment, you missed a good one. You can click here for the video and complete text of the short (1min) monolog by Brian Rohrbough, the father of a boy kill…
October 3rd, 2006 at 4:06 pm
More Suppression Of Free Speech
In the name of "Free Speech". I honestly do not think these people are capable of grasping the concept at all.
Your newscast and this segment concept are both outstanding. However, CBS News has a responsibility to the American peopl…
October 3rd, 2006 at 4:18 pm
If You Can’t Say It Better, Just Link It
Read The Anchoress on CBS’ latest ‘freeSpeech’ segment, and the reaction it gets from right and left.
In fact, just read The Anchoress a lot.
October 3rd, 2006 at 5:00 pm
#10, I don’t disagree with anything you say…but the “hint” is a little condescending and needs to be taken by folks both on the left and the right. Please do not pretend that the left does not “lecture,” (you just did it, yourself) that it is always respectful and that it has the corner on humility. There are plenty of folks behaving badly on both sides and the endless finger wagging isn’t really getting anyone anywhere, is it?
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:25 pm
#14. Respectfully, disagreeing that the hint is condescending. You may interpret it that way. It’s unfortunate if you do. It was not intended that way.
The hint may be brief. Too brief to convey the point. Humility comes from realizing that sometimes one thinks oneself is correct when one is not. That’s just human. We carry a map of reality in our mind, not reality itself. And our task is to continuously try to improve it. Is there a better word than humility?
And, yes, humility is called for in all corners.Why is it not taught in schools?
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:42 pm
“Why does Darwin’s theory of evolution always have to be trotted out as the enemy of God?” - Sissy Willis
Actually, I always believed that God would have allowed his creations to evolve given reasonable limitations to changes in the environment. Wouldn’t he have thought of that? I really don’t see where Darwin’s theory of evolution and God’s existence are mutually exclusive, but just the opposite.
October 3rd, 2006 at 6:42 pm
#14, if I misconstrued your meaning, please let me apologise. It is not altogether impossible that my spine is a little brittle today and I may be a tad touchous…if you saw my most recent hate mail you’d understand!
I am happy to be corrected as to your intent.
‘
Humility is a valuable virtue that does, as you say, go untaught, both at school and -it seems - at home. Part of that may be because it’s a hard lesson for schools to teach. I have friends who are schoolteachers and the parents they encounter might not take well to a teacher trying to instill humility into their darling child. It might be more a job for the parent, truth be told.
‘
And too, we’ve spent decades now gushing at students, telling them how “special” and wonderful they are, over-affirming them until their self-esteem is perhaps outsized…countering those lessons with lessons in humility…who knows if they’d take?
October 3rd, 2006 at 9:29 pm
You Can’t Say That Here
Riehl World View
Heaven forbid someone go on CBS and speak a truth many people already know when it comes to morals in this society . Apparently the Libs are up in arms at CBS that a Father of a child killed at Columbine would dare exploit the tragedy…
October 3rd, 2006 at 10:17 pm
On FreeSpeech
CBS’ version that is…
…
October 4th, 2006 at 9:26 am
[...] The sense of safety and an orderly society is in meltdown. We are long past bandaid measures, now, I think. So talk of the loss prayer in schools and abortion effects, these are simply outcomes… outcomes of something else that is gone very wrong in a big way in our entire society. [...]
October 4th, 2006 at 11:52 am
The “Libs” are not up in arms that the grieving father blamed the tragedy on securalism. What we are up in arms about is that the so-called “Free Speech” segment barred Bill Mahrer from talking about religion, and yet it is allowing a view supportive of religion on the segment. This violates the basic principles of free speech: content and viewpoint neutrality.
October 4th, 2006 at 12:27 pm
#21, I originally agreed with you, thinking CBS had dropped the ball, and that they should have allowed him to speak. But as reported here, CBS did not tell Maher he could not speak about religion, and Maher later admitted he “got the story wrong,” (or perhaps misrepresented it?)
But I do not think I have at all misrepresented the tone and tenor of the comments from the left on that thread. I even posted one as an example of my point, as you can see.
October 4th, 2006 at 12:40 pm
I hope the next few days will bring free speech that considers the role of gun control and access to mental health care in our country.
Let’s see. Sheep get slaughtered, so the proper response is to pull the sheep’s teeth.
Had everyone had the right to concealed carry, the first time one of these guys whips out a gun (or a knife, or whatever) and hurts and innocent, a number of guns get drawn, and he gets a chance to explain why he did it to God.
He might kill one or two, but the rest would be saved.
October 4th, 2006 at 4:37 pm
Checkout Public Eye over at CBS Evening News. The Anchoress is on the Blog Roll. Now there’s Free Speech!
October 4th, 2006 at 7:27 pm
Right and Left, by the numbers.
The Brian Rohrbough issue has me thinking about the numbers. Are there more liberals than conservatives, more left that right? Are we really in a world where the an utterance against abortion and the admonition of the Godlessness of our schools is real…
October 7th, 2006 at 8:45 pm
[...] THERE’S A DEMONIC SIDE to the recent school shootings. Dad Of A Columbine Victim Asks “Why Did This Happen?” …. (freerep) [...]