DOES THE MEDIA FEAR GOD?

Well, no, not in the Biblical way that we all should, but Chris Weinkopf finds how deeply uncomfortable the elite media is with conservative Christianity:

"Do most Americans realize just how fervent the President's evangelical faith is?"

So asks the New York Times' Alessandra Stanley, in her review of the PBS "Frontline" documentary, "The Jesus Factor," which examines the role of faith in George W. Bush's life and Presidency. Stanley believes that Americans would be distressed to know that Bush engages in such outlandish behavior as daily Bible-reading, prayer, and allowing his spiritual life to inform his political one. After all, she is.

Other reviews are along the same vein Weinkopf finds:

As with an inkblot test, reactions to "The Jesus Factor" say more about the viewer than the documentary itself. People with religious faith, and those who bear no animus toward them, found the program's depiction of Bush inspiring. Diehard secularists found it frightening. And while the American public might straddle that cultural divide, the media elite almost uniformly fall on the anti-religion side.

Those good tax-funded folks at PBS are pretty clear about their perspective:

Even PBS can't avoid a certain sense of bemusement in its descriptions of these earnest Bible-thumpers. At times, its documentary takes on the same curiously detached tone of a National Geographic special on African bushmen, describing in fascinated detail the strange, alien beliefs that, to much of the American public, are simply part of everyday life.

The announcer explains, in that serious, public-broadcasting voice: "Conservative evangelicals consider the Bible to be the word of God, and without error…. To evangelicals, it is not their Christian denomination that connects them but a series of beliefs. One of the most important is committing yourself to Jesus Christ, or being 'born again.'"

You almost expect him to continue: "While the men are out hunting lions, the women fashion nose rings from the bones of small rodents."

Oh, those wacky folks who commit themselves to Jesus Christ--how very, very quaint. Nothing beats a good Jonathan Edwards sermon to be sure.

If I ever do go small rodent hunting, I'll know where I can find some.