Legitimacy Vs. Abnormality

Legitimacy vs. Abnormality

In the mass-media age, journalism is more than the transmission of neutral information. It traffics in the kind of information and spectacle calculated to embarrass western leaders. But the media doesn’t confine itself to embarrassing politicians. It also works to create shame about western history, traditions, and institutions. Not only our vices but our virtues and values are eligible for assault. Old sexual traditions come under fire as much as segregation laws. Christianity is represented as dogmatic, obtuse, and repressive. Bizarre phenomena like lesbian nuns and gay church leaders are treated not as screwballs but as legitimate protesters against burdensome restrictions. Every whiner, no matter how disoriented, becomes a victim. ("The National Review" (May 17, 1985). “Christianity Today,” Vol. 30, no. 3.)