Baha’i Perspectives

nava November 21st, 2008

All men have been created to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization. The Almighty beareth Me witness: To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man. Those virtues that befit his dignity are forbearance, mercy, compassion and loving-kindness towards all the peoples and kindreds of the earth.

To act like the beasts of the field is unworthy of man.

I’m not sure what marked the turning point, but it certainly came. The point when it actually became the praiseworthy goal for men to act like buffoons, the point when women were all too happy to live up to their objectified status.  And it’s not just confined to Western society; evidence of the spread of both of these phenomena across cultures is undeniable (take Japanese extreme reality TV, for instance.) The US culture, the one I am most familiar with, however, is rife with examples of this. Take the  television shows that are or have been incredibly popular in recent times. Shows like  ”Fear Factor” where you eat the most vile and disgusting things imaginable, “Jackass” where you live to prove you are just that — do shows like this promote the dignity of man, or do they rather encourage him to act like the beasts of the field? To degrade himself and humiliate himself for fifteen minutes of a very odd kind of fame, and some potential monetary gain?

Humor is good, of course. One of God’s titles is the Humorist, after all. But there is a difference between tasteful playfulness and wit, and ridiculous, debasing, meaningless, unintelligent attempts at humor. The young men of the world encouraged to act like beer-guzzling idiots who are only as cool as their next stunt, as humorous as their willingness to engage in physical pain, and as appealing as their ability to ape the basest of creatures in their attempts to be “men”.

Gone is chivalry. Gone is wit. Gone is dignity.

And what about women? There was a time, one hears, when women were respected for their chastity, for their modesty. True that men were not held equally accountable for embodying these virtues. So did we decide that true equality meant women should degrade themselves rather than demand that men arise to the station which was already theirs [women's]? Now it seems women are only as appealing as the flatness of the tummies they show off in midriff bearing t-shirts; as attractive as the curves of the body all their figure-hugging clothes expose; as fun as an experimental nature which would allow them to sample in all things, irrespective of what common decency and even the most basic of morals should still their hands from doing.

Gone is modesty. Gone is personality. Gone is dignity.

Even shows like “The Bachelor” (let’s not even talk about their VH1 counterparts like, “Flavor of Love” or “Rock of Love”) are examples of — perhaps perpetuators of — a society eating away at the most basic foundations of decency and dignity left in the human race. Hordes of women chase away after one man (or hordes of men after one woman); and no one even blinks at the fact that these people are engaging promiscuously with one another, IN FRONT of one another, all in an attempt to find love — it’s absolutely astonishing.

We’re living in a decadent age which promotes materialism over virtue, self-love over any true and meaningful love, and self-interest over the promotion of the well-being of the generality of mankind. And as the manifestations of all the virtues wane and fade, dignity suffers the unfortunate fate of no longer being looked upon as a virtue.  Most people today will still acknowledge that honesty is important, for example. And while some may pay lip service to dignity, most of us don’t even know what it looks like anymore. The balance of the world around us is so completely askew that our perception of right and wrong has been completely watered down. It’s no wonder then that we often struggle to grasp what it means to be truly modest. Noble.

Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.

If and when when we try to arise, I hope we know what it is we’re arising to.

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Tags: dignity, mass media

• Arts & Culture , Society
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nadim April 9th, 2008

Churnalism refers to “the practice of regurgitating material, rapidly and under pressure, from outside sources without checking“.

This phrase, coined by National Union of Journalists member Nick Davies, is a reaction to the changing face of journalism. Journalists, according to him, have gone from becoming active gatherers of information to passive distributors of news from second hand sources. This is all in an industry that is struggling to come to grips with the sudden 24-hour demand for information brought about by the Internet boom.

Where once journalists were seen travelling out and about in the search for facts, a large majority are now, literally, chained to their desks waiting for the next major scoop; eager to be the first to report on the topic and thus draw traffic to their news sites.

Because of this new trend, it has become increasingly common for public relations sources with a particular economic, social or political bent to have a major influence on the content of information that is disseminated.

It all starts with a story by an “unnamed source”, or perhaps even a factual story, the contents of which are altered by acts of omission or commission. Once the press release is disseminated to the news media — and there are very effective mechanisms in place for doing this — the rapidity with which the same article appears on different news sites is astonishing. The only difference between articles is the (typically sensationalist) headline.

For a demonstration, try this:

• Go to a news aggregator such as www.newsnow.co.uk.
• Type in a current news topic which interests you. I have been following the election situation in Zimbabwe, so I typed in ‘Zimbabwe’.
• Compare the stories as they appear — and spot the repetitive trend.

I listened to a debate recently on the BBC World Service between an advocate for journalistic standards and a Public Relations representative. Whilst the advocate rightly spoke about the need for discovery of facts before releasing articles, the Public Relations representative argued that we should accept the reality that there will always be biases, and that it doesn’t really matter anyway, because people are smart enough to be able to filter out truth from falsities.

I disagree.

In one of His Tablets, Baha’u'llah addresses these words to the news-writers of the world:

The pages of swiftly-appearing newspapers are indeed the mirror of the world. They reflect the deeds and the pursuits of divers peoples and kindreds. They both reflect them and make them known. They are a mirror endowed with hearing, sight and speech. This is an amazing and potent phenomenon. However, it behoveth the writers thereof to be purged from the promptings of evil passions and desires and to be attired with the raiment of justice and equity. They should enquire into situations as much as possible and ascertain the facts, then set them down in writing… Fair speech and truthfulness, by reason of their lofty rank and position, are regarded as a sun shining above the horizon of knowledge.

Journalists may not be fully aware of the impact they have on people’s perceptions of a situation, perceptions which are magnified when the same story is “corroborated” on hundreds of sites. I have witnessed how overly negative perceptions have affected entire national industries, which in turn have affected entire national economies, with the net effect being the eventual devastation of people’s livelihoods.

So the question is, can individuals who merely read the news be held accountable when faced with an overwhelming body of information that supports a single view of a situation?

Ultimate accountability clearly rests on the shoulders of journalists, news executives, reporters, bloggers and anyone else whose job it is to deliver factual information the public.

Tags: journalism, mass media, public relations

• Baha'i Concepts , News & Current Affairs , Society
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