I rarely comment on politically-charged events in the media.
However, the firing of Juan Williams from NPR for his comments is disrupting me. Click here for a description of why his comments about seeing Muslims on aircraft and how they make him nervous got him fired.
It is important that we NOT assume every Muslim is out to kill people. There are radical Muslims, Christians, Jews, atheists and everything else. Craziness doesn’t have a preferred creed.
HOWEVER ...
The media keeps drilling us that Muslims are the key problem (whether accurate or not).
Public transit (subways, trains, ferries, airlines, etc.) have signs plastered everywhere reminding us to be aware of suspicious activity and to report it immediately.
Intelligence sources keep telling us of things that have been averted but can't tell us what for national security reasons.
We are constantly reminded that the next big event is a "when" and not an "if".
So we are called to keep our diligence high but are left in the dark about what we should be diligent about.
So when Williams says how he looks out for trouble, in essence what his best interpretation is of all of this information, he is fired.
If we can be punished for guessing based on the enormous crush of innuendo and vague information, then PLEASE help us to help you by telling us:
WHAT TROUBLE DO WE LOOK FOR?
WHO DO WE LOOK FOR IT IN?
Don't make people guess and then punish them for expressing how they do it based on the heavy crush of vague, fear-spreading information that flows daily.
And don’t punish people for exercising their right to free speech. Isn’t this a foundational element of the great United States of America?
Otherwise, this just keeps everyone off balance.
But then again maybe that's the intention.
The question would then be ….
Why?
In service and servanthood.
Harry
For my Musings-in-a-Minute version of “Juan Williams and NPR”, please click here.
He isn't alone in his feelings...shooting the messenger.
ReplyDeleteI rarely allow anonymous comments to go through.
ReplyDeleteHowever, after writing this, according to some alleged studies, there are a number of Americans who allegedly feel the same way.
If they feel this way, whether rightly or wrongly, it is something that needs to be discussed openly ... to understand why.
Thanks for your comment - create a great day.
As a very frequent traveler who is bombarded with a lot of these generic warnings, I agree with your comments wholeheartedly. I was terribly disappointed to see NPR (a champion of free speech) silence a man for exercising his.
ReplyDeleteHey Andrew,
ReplyDeleteGreat to hear from you! Thanks for weighing in .... it is disconcerting to me as well, which is why I couldn't help but write about it today.
Take care and create a great day, Andrew!
Harry
It's like this, Andrew.
ReplyDeletePretend a woman sends her husband to the supermarket and tells him to buy a pile of stuff on a shopping list.
However, she can't tell him what's really on the list because in fact, the list contains stuff she is going to give him as a surprise.
So he goes to the supermarket and tries to guess what she MIGHT want but when he comes home, she gets angry at him that he guessed poorly and throws him out of the house.
It makes as much sense as that. :-)
She's also angry that he went to the wrong supermarket, but didn't tell him in advance which one to avoid. :-)
ReplyDeleteI saw this interview and remember thinking how refreshing it was that someone was being so honest despite the touchy topic. There just has to be more to this story. I am shocked at NPRs action against free speech.
ReplyDeleteHi Dave,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts.
I agree with you that there has to be more to this story.
The right to an opinion must be protected. Ironically, I had just finished writing about the right to being able to express your own opinion just as this story broke. The other blog is here - http://harrytucker.blogspot.com/2010/10/if-i-wanted-your-opinion.html
I wonder if being too politically correct is actually a form of being politically incorrect.
Thanks, Dave!
Take care and create a great day.
Harry
I also don't hear NPR making a big noise about this disturbing news item this morning:
ReplyDeleteRepublican candidate says violent overthrow of government is "on the table" - http://tinyurl.com/25uu9pk
According to Republican congressional candidate Stephen Broden:
"If the government is not producing the results or has become destructive to the ends of our liberties, we have a right to get rid of that government and to get rid of it by any means necessary," Broden said, adding the nation was founded on a violent revolt against Britain's King George III.
Watson asked if violence would be in option in 2010, under the current government.
"The option is on the table. I don't think that we should remove anything from the table as it relates to our liberties and our freedoms," Broden said, without elaborating. "However, it is not the first option."
Any candidate calling for potential overthrow of the government using violent means is a troubling thing.