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From: tim@cmu-cs-k.ARPA (Tim Maroney)
Newsgroups: net.religion.christian
Subject: Re: The Evil Media
Message-ID: <477@cmu-cs-k.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 10-Jul-85 18:46:37 EDT
Article-I.D.: cmu-cs-k.477
Posted: Wed Jul 10 18:46:37 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 13-Jul-85 09:15:40 EDT
References: <761@ihlpg.UUCP>
Organization: Carnegie-Mellon University, Networking
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Three comments on this whole issue of the atheistic media:

First, why does everyone believe someone who says "A recent poll shows..."
without naming the poll?  Anyone used to political discussions has to
realize that this is one of the most common modern ways to lie.

Second, granting for the moment that the press is composed primarily of
atheists, what would you expect?  Consider for a moment the nature of the
journalistic profession, that of skeptical inquiry.  A journalist is not
supposed to believe ANYTHING unless he can objectively substantiate it.  The
job of a journalist is to select among possibilities based solely on the
evidence.  And, resurrection proof-mongers to the contrary, there simply is
not any objective evidence of God.  A journalistic mindset thus demands
atheism.  If indeed most journalists are atheists, that shows that they have
acquired the mindset they OUGHT to have, that of skepticism.

Third, again granting the "poll" findings, they are not statistically valid
because they do not take into account educational or economic factors.
Journalists tend to be upper middle class, college educated people.  Among
these people, atheism is more common than in the population as a whole.  I
believe comparison of the percentage of atheists within journalism and the
percentage of atheists in all upper middle class, college educated people
would show a much smaller difference.  The failure to take these factors
into account implies that if the poll is real, it was probably commissioned
by a partisan group which had a vested interest in the findings coming out
as they did.
-=-
Tim Maroney, Carnegie-Mellon University, Networking
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