What do you think of NPR?

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The way I see it is that NPR is a radio network that reports on certain issues, usually political, but I don’t think they are actually trying to push any particular opinion one way or the other. Its just that some people take it that way because a lot of the reporters swing to the left. I find them much more easy to listen to than FOX and other radio networks that swing right.
 
Very insightful commentaries, GIR! I think it’s the human tendency to classify people into little boxes etc. That’s why I like Catholic radio - prefer to be free from all political labels, whether “liberal catholic” or “conservative catholic” or “socialist catholic”. Why not just a catholic who follows the teachings of the church when voting? I think political labels make everything relative: I’m liberal, you’re conservative and there’s no right or wrong - they are just different and everyone’s okay.

I like NPR for shows like Fresh Air, Wait Wait and Car Talk. They seem relatively free of any propaganda.

The news shows are a different matter: whenever I hear a sentence starting with “Catholic”, the story is always about the sex abuse scandal or the lack of women priests in the church. When the Pope visited the US and England recently, the focus of ALL NPR news coverage was on the scandal. There was very little discussion about Cardinal Newman and what he stood for. Even the recent canonization of the Australian nun focused on the scandal.

So I don’t donate to NPR anymore.
Unfortunately thats because that kind of story is what everyone is looking for – its about sex. And, not for anything, probably people look up to Catholics, especially priests, and expect them to live up to what they profess. Believe it or not, if we all (Catholics) lived as Christ taught us the whole world would probably be evangelized. 🙂
 
…
What are your thoughts on NPR?

–James Chapel
I’ve heard it only as a captive audience. Its always been about an obscure third world folk tradition involving poetry, unusual stringed instruments or dance, thriving in a neighborhood enclave located in a hostile urban setting, such as Dallas or Los Angeles, with the spokesperson for the subject yammering on in an even more obscure dialect with the translator speaking in suitably accented English. “Faith” and “family” will be prominently mentioned.

In other words, nothing that the public would voluntarily pay to listen to.
 
It’s a bit like having tinnitus. It isn’t overt, but the liberal bias is there almost all the time. I find it enormously irritating to be aware that the folks on NPR don’t admit to their bias and evidently think we’re too stupid to realize what they’re doing.
That’s it. That’s it precisely.
 
Unfortunately thats because that kind of story is what everyone is looking for – its about sex.
So, does that give them the right to treat us all like neanderthals by pandering to our basest instincts? How is that progress? It’s not. It’s REgress. That’s where the far left is attempting to take us farther in the wrong direction.

From dictionary.com:

big·ot·ry   /ˈbɪgətri/ Show Spelled
[big-uh-tree] Show IPA

–noun, plural -ries.
  1. **stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own. **2. the actions, beliefs, prejudices, etc., of a bigot.
    Use bigotry in a Sentence
    See images of bigotry
    Search bigotry on the Web

Origin:
1665–75; bigot + -ry, formation parallel to F bigoterie

—Synonyms
  1. narrow-mindedness, bias, discrimination.
Soldiers of the unelected media propaganda will find it hard to believe, but if they would merely attempt to give justice a try by squinting hard enough to see through their own media-promoted prejudices, they will see that we taxpayers are publicly funding bigotry. Yes, real bigotry. Not just the kinds of bigotry the unelected media prefers to define.
 
So, does that give them the right to treat us all like neanderthals by pandering to our basest instincts? How is that progress? It’s not. It’s REgress. That’s where the far left is attempting to take us farther in the wrong direction.

From dictionary.com:

big·ot·ry   /ˈbɪgətri/ Show Spelled
[big-uh-tree] Show IPA

–noun, plural -ries.
  1. **stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one’s own. **2. the actions, beliefs, prejudices, etc., of a bigot.
    Use bigotry in a Sentence
    See images of bigotry
    Search bigotry on the Web
I’ve only read as far as direction – maybe I’ll read the rest later. But, puhleeeese! Are you for real??? And what is the right feeding us??? Every single advertisement anywhere is blatantly and I mean blatantly sending out the sex signals. Are you trying to tell me that the media and all the huge corporate giants (I’m referring to stores, companies that sell products) are leftists??? And I suppose they are running their companies from a commune?? Right?? You are living in a dream world.

Origin:
1665–75; bigot + -ry, formation parallel to F bigoterie

—Synonyms
  1. narrow-mindedness, bias, discrimination.
Soldiers of the unelected media propaganda will find it hard to believe, but if they would merely attempt to give justice a try by squinting hard enough to see through their own media-promoted prejudices, they will see that we taxpayers are publicly funding bigotry. Yes, real bigotry. Not just the kinds of bigotry the unelected media prefers to define.
 
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century153:
Oh, I suppose you are going to claim that the leftist media, the leftist entertainment industry, and the leftist fashion industry are promoting good family values to help people focus on true love instead of lewdness, drugs, and violence. :rolleyes: They have profiteered and oppressed the poor and middle incomes through pandering to our basest instincts. How do they overcome the guilt to no only continue, but to turn up the intensity? If buying too much stuff from corporations is making one poor, then stop buying stuff. Money can’t buy happiness anyway.

Our society has become addicted to shallow amusements that don’t last. People crave intensity, but too many are looking in the exact opposite place, thanks to pop culture media. The leftist entertainment and fashion industries are the greatest con going: lure people into more shallow amusements that won’t last, then they’ll lust for more once the feeling wears off, and blame others for why the intensity and meaning doesn’t last. And people still refuse to see it. Intensity and meaning can be found through true love and romanticism via the Church’s way. It’s important to discern the difference.

Taxpayer funding of NPR’s bigotry needs to end. It’s time we all gave up this team-ism of “my team against your team.” Time to place emotional loyalty to the side and once again look for Truth to guide us. The leftist media knows they own TV, music, and movies, so they are free to spread their propaganda as long as unthinkers take the easy way out by going along with their unelected messages. Don’t just assume they tell the Truth. Many of their messages are opposite to Church teaching. Please put down the koolaid. The U.S. simply can’t survive as long as enough individuals place emotion ahead of Truth,
 
Unfortunately thats because that kind of story is what everyone is looking for – its about sex… 🙂
The truth is that not all of us are looking for that message. As you mentioned elsewhere, we are already getting that message from many other directions. What we need from news reports is HONESTY, not a heavy-handed attempt at balancing out the opposition.
 
I like NPR for shows like Fresh Air, Wait Wait and Car Talk. They seem relatively free of any propaganda.
this show comes off with a very liberal bent to me.

i think as with most news organizations you have to take everything with a grain of salt and investigate further if something doesnt sound quite right when they are commentating, left or right.
 
What?!?! Capital punishment is murder, just as abortion is murder. Innocence should not be the judge of who we choose to kill. Our children could just as well grow up to be serial killers, should we murder them to protect society? Should retirees, most long deprived of their innocence, be sent to out pasture like animals? Unless it is absolutely clear that lives will be saved, the death penalty should never be necessary.
Though I agree with you on the issue of capital punishment, you must know that The Church allows for discusion and disagreement in that matter.

However, your argument makes no sense. How can you equate innocence with guilt?! I doubt anyone here is in favor of killing the innocent at any age. And your closing sentence echos a pro abortion argument used in their propaganda, “abortion should be legal if it will save the life of the mother.” This can never be!! Not for any reason!

I suggest you start listening to Catholic Answers Live instead of NPR if you don’t already. Any one of their awesome apologists would be able to go into great detail about what the church really teaches.
 
And your closing sentence echos a pro abortion argument used in their propaganda, “abortion should be legal if it will save the life of the mother.” This can never be!! Not for any reason!
How else then would anyone justify capital punishment other than to protect other people? Because the punished deserve it?!?
I suggest you start listening to Catholic Answers Live instead of NPR if you don’t already. Any one of their awesome apologists would be able to go into great detail about what the church really teaches.
Nothing against the show, but as it is, I’m thinking about God 20+ hours a day. While I find it good to have a well-informed understanding of my faith, I believe there is a balance between not thinking about God enough (which for most people is the case) and thinking about God so much that you become completely disconnected from reality and are unable to relate to anyone else to get God’s message across.
 
Not to get too off topic, but it’s for reasons like these that the church to me looks like an extension of conservative politics. Where certain kinds of killing, of course the Republican-approved ones, are the only ones that are allowed by the Church. The same goes for sexual acts (Take for example the fact that divorce is actively practiced under the guise of annulment, yet even supporting homosexuals is harshly frowned upon) and countless other moral issues. Why is the church so lenient on conservatives and yet so harsh on liberals when it comes to the same issues? The fact of the matter is that the similarities between Catholicism and conservatism are too profound to be coincidental.
 
Not to get too off topic, but it’s for reasons like these that the church to me looks like an extension of conservative politics. Where certain kinds of killing, of course the Republican-approved ones, are the only ones that are allowed by the Church. The same goes for sexual acts (I mean, seriously, how can oral sex, a non-procreative act, be allowed when masturbation isn’t?) and countless other moral issues. Why is the church so lenient on conservatives and yet so harsh on liberals when it comes to the same issues? The fact of the matter is that the similarities are too profound to be coincidental.
I think you’re confusing the statements of politically conservative Catholics (or political conservatives claiming to be Catholic) with statements of the Church herself. Always check the authority of the one speaking (or writing). Some of these folks have become very good at presenting their views in such a way that it looks like the Magisterium is speaking, when in fact they have no authority for their positions at all. Sometimes they even contradict Church teaching. Discernment is critical here.
 
I think you’re confusing the statements of politically conservative Catholics (or political conservatives claiming to be Catholic) with statements of the Church herself. Always check the authority of the one speaking (or writing). Some of these folks have become very good at presenting their views in such a way that it looks like the Magisterium is speaking, when in fact they have no authority for their positions at all. Sometimes they even contradict Church teaching. Discernment is critical here.
That very well could be the case, or at least part of the case.
 
Don’t forget that the assumption is that the person being executed by the state is GUILTY of a grave crime, while the unborn child is guilty of no crime whatsoever, no matter how tragic the situation. I don’t want their blood on my hands either, so I don’t support the death penalty, but the baby never got a fair trail.
… it’s for reasons like these that the church to me looks like an extension of conservative politics. Where certain kinds of killing, of course the Republican-approved ones, are the only ones that are allowed by the Church. The same goes for sexual acts (Take for example the fact that divorce is actively practiced under the guise of annulment, yet even supporting homosexuals is harshly frowned upon) and countless other moral issues. Why is the church so lenient on conservatives and yet so harsh on liberals when it comes to the same issues? The fact of the matter is that the similarities between Catholicism and conservatism are too profound to be coincidental.
Hey, The Church has been singing this song for much longer than the republican party. About 2000 years or so. The Church takes very seriously the issue of annulments, and this cannot be said for the civil divorce. I have never known of anyone being granted a certificate of nullity in a manner that I would call expeditious. Moreover, I know of several people who have tried to get an annulment and have been denied. The Church has always and will always support homosexuals (just as it will support murderers, adulterers and thieves) as an individual sinner, but it will never and has never supported sinful acts such as sodomy and so on. Remember, Christ came for us sinners. In fact, it is through God’s Grace that The Church offers the best support available to us sinners in the sacrament of reconciliation.

I used to think along the same liberal lines that (I assume from your writing) you do. I would argue with my friends and church groups, until one year, someone gave me a catechism for christmas. He had taken the time to highlight and bookmark pages for me. Once I understood where The Church stands on those issues, I had a hard decision to make. Would I live as a Catholic, or continue in my own personal protestantism?

As for my comment about listening to CAL instead of NPR, I didn’t mean that as a putdown, I really think it is worth listening to. It may drive you crazy and you may disagree, but just think of it as my gift of a catechism to you. They actually go out of their way to mention that they do not support any political party or agenda. Just that old time religion.

Progressivism, liberalism, whatever you want to call it, basically amounts to one thing, the pursuit of freedom from responsibility.
 
Some of these folks have become very good at presenting their views in such a way that it looks like the Magisterium is speaking, when in fact they have no authority for their positions at all. Sometimes they even contradict Church teaching. Discernment is critical here.
Can you give some examples?
 
Oh, I suppose you are going to claim that the leftist media, the leftist entertainment industry, and the leftist fashion industry are promoting good family values to help people focus on true love instead of lewdness, drugs, and violence. :rolleyes: They have profiteered and oppressed the poor and middle incomes through pandering to our basest instincts. How do they overcome the guilt to no only continue, but to turn up the intensity? If buying too much stuff from corporations is making one poor, then stop buying stuff. Money can’t buy happiness anyway.

Our society has become addicted to shallow amusements that don’t last. People crave intensity, but too many are looking in the exact opposite place, thanks to pop culture media. The leftist entertainment and fashion industries are the greatest con going: lure people into more shallow amusements that won’t last, then they’ll lust for more once the feeling wears off, and blame others for why the intensity and meaning doesn’t last. And people still refuse to see it. Intensity and meaning can be found through true love and romanticism via the Church’s way. It’s important to discern the difference.

Taxpayer funding of NPR’s bigotry needs to end. It’s time we all gave up this team-ism of “my team against your team.” Time to place emotional loyalty to the side and once again look for Truth to guide us. The leftist media knows they own TV, music, and movies, so they are free to spread their propaganda as long as unthinkers take the easy way out by going along with their unelected messages. Don’t just assume they tell the Truth. Many of their messages are opposite to Church teaching. Please put down the koolaid. The U.S. simply can’t survive as long as enough individuals place emotion ahead of Truth,
You know what? I see both left and right as being manipulated by the biggest puppeteer of all time – his name is Satan. Behind it all is the same old tempter and liar. So, actually, there is no argument . He is the ruler of this world and we are to resist him so that he will flee from us. We also have been given power over the rulers of darkness of this world. But, instead, we choose to have these petty arguments. I apologize for being sucked into it. I am neither left nor right but I stand firm on the Word of God and He is my True Source.
 
Can you give some examples?
Best case I can think of right off hand is the oft enunciated position that the Church’s just war doctrine is optional, or left to the sole discretion of political leaders. That’s wrong. The just war doctrine is not optional, and the political leadership is not the final judge on the question: the Church is. This position was taken in order that the invasion of Iraq would not be viewed as what it was: sin. One conservative Catholic publication even suggested, after the invasion, that perhaps it was time to revisit the just war doctrine. That was a real eye opener for me.
 
Very true JQ. Many of the political “leaders” seem to try to bend and distort the ages-old teachings of The Church to advance their political agenda. They seem not to understand that the truth can’t be changed.

Religious leaders should likewise not practice politics. However, religious leaders have the obligation to pass on The Church’s moral teachings, e.g. abortion, contraception, chastity, etc. Unfortunately, some people see this as practicing politics.

Wasn’t it Pope Paul VI who warned us about the evils that contraception would bring about? Evils like abortion, loss of respect for life, the objectification of the person, adultery and unchastity. Look where we are now. On the other side of this “sexual revolution”, it’s hard to find ads or even entertainment that don’t promote some sort of lust or that don’t prompt the viewer to continue to overthrow authority. If that is not the work of the deceiver, I don’t know what is.
 
What?!?! Capital punishment is murder, just as abortion is murder. Innocence should not be the judge of who we choose to kill. Our children could just as well grow up to be serial killers, should we murder them to protect society? Should retirees, most long deprived of their innocence, be sent to out pasture like animals? Unless it is absolutely clear that lives will be saved, the death penalty should never be necessary.
Although I personally oppose capital punishement the Church does now and always has allowed for its use. Pope Benedict said this is an issue Catholics can disagree on.
 
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