Dr. Shane Posted July 8, 2009 Share Posted July 8, 2009 The idea of drinking ideological kool-aid comes from the story Jim Jomes whose followers all committed suicide by drinking kool-aid laced with cyanide. Among the followers that died was one US congressman. Thus when the phrase "drinking kool-aid" is used in the political world today it refers to people who blindly follow ideological or partisan leaders without giving those that disagree fair consideration. In this information age ideological sources of news abound more than ever before. In my mind I plot out where a news source falls on an ideological line. At the line's center is the vacant position where the perfect news' source which is completely unbiased would be. I don't believe such a source exists or can exist. To the right I position news sources that are ideologically conservative and to the left I place those that are ideological liberal. It isn't until a news' sources position gets far away from the center of the line that I start viewing them as a kool-aid source. Sources I consider to be somewhere in the middle, or mainstream, would be: MSNBC, NPR, Newsweek, NY Times, Time, NBC, PBS, CNN, CBS, ABC, BBC, Associated Press, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, FOXNews, National Review. Sources I consider out on the ends, or kool-aid sources, are: Daily Show, Salon.com, Media Matters, Huffington Post, Daily Kos, Democracy Now, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck, The Weekly Standard, World Magazine, CBN, WorldNetDaily Of course those are just some thoughts off the top of my head. It can be hard to label an entire news source and plot them on an imaginary line. I do this as a means to try to get a fair and balanced view of current events. When I listen to "kool-aid" sources I try to balance it with a kool-aid source on the other end of the spectrum. Sometimes even the mainstream sources need to be balanced. I am constantly aware that news sources want to play me. They often times want to tell me what to think instead of just giving me the information and letting me decide for myself. Quote Pastoral Family Counselor... Find me at www.PostumCafe.com Author of Peculiar Christianity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Shane Posted July 8, 2009 Author Share Posted July 8, 2009 I think most of the mainstream media leans liberal... but they are still in the mainstream. Some of the mainstream media leans conservative. Quote Pastoral Family Counselor... Find me at www.PostumCafe.com Author of Peculiar Christianity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carolaa Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Does "balanced" equate to "truth"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Oplinger Posted July 9, 2009 Share Posted July 9, 2009 Thus when the phrase "drinking kool-aid" is used in the political world today it refers to people who blindly follow ideological or partisan leaders without giving those that disagree fair consideration. Quote "As iron sharpens iron, so also does one man sharpen another" - Proverbs 27:17 "The offense of the cross is that the cross is a confession of human frailty and sin and of inability to do any good thing. To take the cross of Christ means to depend solely on Him for everything, and this is the abasement of all human pride. Men love to fancy themselves independent. But let the cross be preached, let it be made known that in man dwells no good thing and that all must be received as a gift, and straightway someone is offended." Ellet J. Waggoner, The Glad Tidings "Courage is being scared to death - and saddling up anyway" - John Wayne "The person who pays an ounce of principle for a pound of popularity gets badly cheated" - Ronald Reagan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members phkrause Posted July 13, 2009 Members Share Posted July 13, 2009 I agree with you carolaa. And to add to that, does fair and balanced mean that you don't spin it to your liking. I have not watched any news or I should say newscaster, anywhere that doesn't spin it to the way they want you to hear it. Even if its correct they still want you to hear and see it there way. pk Quote phkrause By the decree enforcing the institution of the papacy in violation of the law of God, our nation will disconnect herself fully from righteousness. When Protestantism shall stretch her hand across the gulf to grasp the hand of the Roman power, when she shall reach over the abyss to clasp hands with spiritualism, when, under the influence of this threefold union, our country shall repudiate every principle of its Constitution as a Protestant and republican government, and shall make provision for the propagation of papal falsehoods and delusions, then we may know that the time has come for the marvelous working of Satan and that the end is near. {5T 451.1} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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