CRN.Info and Analysis

As we’ve mentioned its been a rough week for Ingrid’s powers of discernment. Proving that perhaps her spiritual gifts lie elsewhere Ingrid has managed to bungle the reporting on a story, even when using a “a very credible source”.

Ingrid’s take on the matter:

Ingrid Newkirk from PETA is being outdone by some progressive Europeans. Newkirk may not want to eat anything that has a face, but some rights enthusiasts are suggesting that plants have feelings, too. While plant rights may be a little hard to sell at a time when world food prices are causing hunger on a frightening scale, it isn’t stopping these activists from trying. I’m visualizing sit-ins and pickets at cereal plants and corn roasting events and placards with slogans like, “Grains Are People, Too” or “Civil Rights for Corn” or even “Geranium Rights Now!”.

As you can see Ingrid has made a directly analogous comparison between animal rights which asserts that any eating of meat is wrong and this story about the “dignity of plants”.

However if you go to the actual story what you’ll find is something very different. What this all begins with is a rather nebulously worded Swiss law that mandates that the “dignity of creatures” be respected with respect to all government funded research. Because of the fuzziness of the law no one is all that sure what it all means. In fact, the only thing sure thing in all this is:

Keller sees the issue as providing another tool for opponents to argue against any form of plant biotechnology, which is already very difficult to conduct in Switzerland.

In other words, no one is making a moral argument that plants shouldn’t be eaten, as Ingrid asserts, rather what is going on is that those opposed to genetic tinkering are using this law to further their views. This is not anything new, and its not confined to Europe. And ultimately the argument isn’t just about what can be ethically done to plants but the worry that genetically altered plants will be harmful to humanity and/or the environment in general.

So why bring all this up, after all I don’t care about plant dignity one bit (and honestly I’m kind of looking forward to tomatos the size of pumpkins that only need to be watered once a decade). But what I do care about is the legitimacy of Christian reporting/blogging. At some point even those who agree with Ingrid on many issues need to be aware that one of the leading ODMs and Christian radio commentator has absolutely no legitimacy. At some point when ideology and bias become so overwhelming that the simple task of summarizing the basic facts of an already reported on story its time to find a new job, and a new hobby, and its time to start ignoring her, even if you happen to have your ears tickled by the misreporting she brings to you.

“While some “Christian” pastors have slipped their Biblical moorings and are now apologizing for opposing abortion, men like Barak Obama are leading the charge to against pro-life legislation.”

This was the opening line in the post entitled It’s a Mad World, at CRN this morning.

It was followed with the statement

Is it really wrong and “Un-Christian” of Christians to call abortion a sin

So, I followed the link to a little leaven where they asked

Is the church wrong and judgmental for claiming that abortion and homosexuality are sins and contending against them?

Wow! A church that claims it is judgmental to call abortion and homosexualty a sin? A church that says it is wrong to call homosexuality a sin!? Where would this be? Well, it doesn’t exist. Here is the original news story and a few quotes that CRN or A Little Leaven will probably not want you to read

Georgia Baptist pastor who pledged to apologize to gays, women seeking abortions, and couples who live together outside marriage…

His apology was not limited to the aforementioned groups but was directed to those in the secular world that drive by churches each day and never consider visiting because of the judgmental posture…

Lee did not yield ground on his conservative beliefs but said the Church’s established methods of judging others for their shortcomings obviously has not worked. Driving people away from Christ is not an effective way of bringing them to Him, he said through a variety of illustrations….

“I am 37 years old and I believe the Bible is 100 percent truth without error. But the Bible tells us we are to judge our own lives and not the lives of those outside the faith”

And while I firmly believe that Romans 1 is true in its discussion of homosexuality I know that it is much easier to condemn when you do not know those in that lifestyle.

So, this would have been a big, huge, juicy story… if it were actually true. Apologizing for how we have treated these people is not the same as apologizing for what scripture has to say about their lifestyle and choices. I find it very ironic that Christians run to the media for an apology when someone treats them bad, but we are unapologetic for gay bashing, abortion clinic vandalism and arsons, and let’s not mention gadhatesfags.com. Don’t see too much outrage over how we have treated those that need Christ the most.

BTW… I LOVE how they had to drag Barack into the equation. Wouldn’t be a good ODM article without blaming some politicians for where the church has fallen short in affecting society.