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New York Times reporter slammed for seeking ‘opposition research’ on Christian schools

https://www.foxnews.com/entertainme...king-opposition-research-on-christian-schools


So for some time, some of us have said that Christianity is being singled out for ridicule in America. Well here is some proof of that by a NYT reporter. I say it's far more widespread, but many naysayers will argue otherwise.
Red:

  • Fox's web page seems to have no trouble accessing myriad tweets railing against Dan Levin, the reporter being discussed.
  • Per the article, some critics have lambasted Levin for what they "are calling [his] slanted report on Christian schools in America." Has Levin's article even been published? The Fox article doesn't link to it....
    • If Levin's article hasn't been published, the critics' acrimony is premature.
      • "The article Levin hasn't yet written and published is slanted." Really? How would you know?
  • The Fox News article, in each instance where is supposed to appear Dan Levin's tweets, is found the following:

    "Whoops! We couldn't access this Tweet."

    Moreover, the Fox article doesn't so much as suggest Levin sought to ridicule Christianity. What it does say is Levin "took to Twitter in hopes to seek testimonials about people’s experiences while attending Christian schools." Indeed, Fox's sole first-person representation of Levin's intent includes a screenshot of one of Levin's tweets, and, echoing Fox's summary, that tweet doesn't so much as intimate that Levin is ridiculing Christianity:

Dxt0Nr6WkAEyHvQ.jpg


If there were a movement to ridicule Christianity:

  • The government being party to such a movement and targeting Christianity (or any other faith) for ridicule --> Problem/wrong/illegal.
  • A journalist reporting on such a movement --> Neither problemenatic nor illegal nor wrong.
  • A person or entity, journalist or otherwise, editorially ridiculing it --> Neither problemenatic nor illegal nor wrong.
Simply, Christianity is every bit as subject to ridicule as anything else.


Lastly, just how do you imagine a reporter can report on anything if s/he doesn't gather information on the topic about which s/he endeavors to report? I'm sure it's not hard to find youths who have positive experiences to relate about their experiences at a Christian school. Simply going to such a school and soliciting permission to interview the students there surely will turn up kids who have good things to say about their experiences there. (Maybe if one goes to a Catholic school, one'll find a kid or two whom a priest molested?) In contrast, it's considerably harder to find youths who've had particularly negative experiences at a Christian school; it's not as though such kids go about with a tattoo on their foreheads or something.
 
It's more than being sought out for ridicule. It's more like targeting to destroy.
Just when I think the leftists couldn't get any more hateful.

Accusing other groups of hatefulness is a well used device for permitting yourself to hate them. Hitler used it with Jews.
 
Accusing other groups of hatefulness is a well used device for permitting yourself to hate them. Hitler used it with Jews.

Don't pee on my leg and tell me it's raining.
 
Red:

  • Fox's web page seems to have no trouble accessing myriad tweets railing against Dan Levin, the reporter being discussed.
  • Per the article, some critics have lambasted Levin for what they "are calling [his] slanted report on Christian schools in America." Has Levin's article even been published? The Fox article doesn't link to it....
    • If Levin's article hasn't been published, the critics' acrimony is premature.
      • "The article Levin hasn't yet written and published is slanted." Really? How would you know?
  • The Fox News article, in each instance where is supposed to appear Dan Levin's tweets, is found the following:

    "Whoops! We couldn't access this Tweet."

    Moreover, the Fox article doesn't so much as suggest Levin sought to ridicule Christianity. What it does say is Levin "took to Twitter in hopes to seek testimonials about people’s experiences while attending Christian schools." Indeed, Fox's sole first-person representation of Levin's intent includes a screenshot of one of Levin's tweets, and, echoing Fox's summary, that tweet doesn't so much as intimate that Levin is ridiculing Christianity:

Dxt0Nr6WkAEyHvQ.jpg


If there were a movement to ridicule Christianity:

  • The government being party to such a movement and targeting Christianity (or any other faith) for ridicule --> Problem/wrong/illegal.
  • A journalist reporting on such a movement --> Neither problemenatic nor illegal nor wrong.
  • A person or entity, journalist or otherwise, editorially ridiculing it --> Neither problemenatic nor illegal nor wrong.
Simply, Christianity is every bit as subject to ridicule as anything else.


Lastly, just how do you imagine a reporter can report on anything if s/he doesn't gather information on the topic about which s/he endeavors to report? I'm sure it's not hard to find youths who have positive experiences to relate about their experiences at a Christian school. Simply going to such a school and soliciting permission to interview the students there surely will turn up kids who have good things to say about their experiences there. (Maybe if one goes to a Catholic school, one'll find a kid or two whom a priest molested?) In contrast, it's considerably harder to find youths who've had particularly negative experiences at a Christian school; it's not as though such kids go about with a tattoo on their foreheads or something.

You're missing the point. Levin's call to 'expose Christian schools' comes in the wake of the medias fabricated story on the Covington High School kids wearing MAGA hats. A NYT reporter fishing for dirt and horror stories about Christian schools suggests he's going to try to use the interest regarding Covington, to paint Christian schools with a broad brush. As someone who's told endlessly that the actions of some are not indicative of a whole group of people, it strikes me as odd that no one is acknowledging how the media behaves in this manner on a regular basis.
 
You're missing the point. Levin's call to 'expose Christian schools' comes in the wake of the medias fabricated story on the Covington High School kids wearing MAGA hats. A NYT reporter fishing for dirt and horror stories about Christian schools suggests he's going to try to use the interest regarding Covington, to paint Christian schools with a broad brush. As someone who's told endlessly that the actions of some are not indicative of a whole group of people, it strikes me as odd that no one is acknowledging how the media behaves in this manner on a regular basis.

Post hoc ergo propter hoc


 
For sure, Christianity is the last acceptable outlet for hatefulness and bigotry for those who would otherwise be opposed to such behavior. I watch people in here, who would fight to the death to defend pretty much any other demographic, engage in some pretty hateful garbage when it comes to discussing Christianity.

That said, when you don't show up for others, you can hardly expect others to show up for you. Sometimes we build our own prisons and guillotines. Another few hundred more years of this, and maybe we'll understand what it's like to be a marginalized minority. ;)

Looks like handing out the "removed from reality" award to Cardinal earlier, was a brash maneuver. That, or you are most likely the most dis-honorable mention that this category could ever receive.
 
I'm going to believe your anti-Semitism, because I see it with my own eyes.

Ask yourself how it'd look if a Christian reporter at Fox took to social media to ask people to help him #exposejewishschools, just because some kid from a Jewish school had a mild encounter with a Native American man. I wouldn't support that deliberate targeting of Jewish schools. I'm actually a lot fairer than some of you mild mannered, middle of the road, don't rock the boat types.
 
Who cares what the failing New York Times says anymore?


What we need in this country is MORE Christian schools, specifically Catholic schools run by tough-as-nails nuns and brothers.
 
Ask yourself how it'd look if a Christian reporter at Fox took to social media to ask people to help him #exposejewishschools, just because some kid from a Jewish school had a mild encounter with a Native American man.

It would look terrible.


I wouldn't support that deliberate targeting of Jewish schools. I'm actually a lot fairer than some of you mild mannered, middle of the road, don't rock the boat types.

Yet you claim the "Jewish Conspiracy(TM)" is true.

It's just run-of-the-mill Jew-hating, no less abhorrent for being so trite.

Tell me, what about Jews drives you to despise them? Specifically?
 
Who cares what the failing New York Times says anymore?
.

Donald. J. Trump, whom you quoted when you used the word "failing," without the marks.

Fox announcing a backlash against its ideological foe doesn't really stir me that much. What is the significance of this bare-bones article the OP cites?
 
The hoodie has become a symbol of BLM and ANTIFA thugs. How's that work for ya?
Black youth in hoodies=division, hatred and violence.
That work? Make sense to you?

Your comment is well taken, up to a point. The accusation about the hat-wearers, tho clearly unfair, comes from the fact that the MAGA-man who first expressed the sentiment has trafficked in arguably racially-tinged themes for years. No such sentiment is attached to hoodies, as even MAGA hat-people wear them.
 
It would look terrible.

Beyond looking terrible, it would most certainly cost a reporter his job, and possibly career, after he was thoroughly branded as an antisemite. He would never land a job at a major news organization again. Which should also answer the second part of your post.

Yet you claim the "Jewish Conspiracy(TM)" is true.

It's just run-of-the-mill Jew-hating, no less abhorrent for being so trite.

Tell me, what about Jews drives you to despise them? Specifically?

I despise hypocrisy, double standards, and deceit. If that equates to antisemitism by today's values, then what should that tell you?
 
Levin began retweeting the #exposechristianschools hashtag on January 18, the same day the Covington High School story broke. A review of his pre-Jan 18 tweets shows his output to be concerned with the government shut down, and the LA teacher's strike, with nothing about exposing Christian schools.

https://mobile.twitter.com/globaldan?ref_src=twsrc^google|twcamp^serp|twgr^author

I don't deny the sequence of events. I'm questioning their causal relationship. That, the uncertainty re: causality, is why I said "post hoc ergo propter hoc," not one's predating the other.

Could the Covington events have inspired Levin? Yes, they could have; I'm well aware that it's possible. But it's every bit as possible that Levin was already working on a story (or several) -- to the extent he was working on a feature article rather than a news article, that's all the more so, and given his solicitation via Twitter, a feature is almost certainly what he was working on -- having to do with kids in, and/or kids and, parochial schools, and the Lincoln Memorial event happened, its notoriety being merely something that made it easier for him to call for disaffected parochial schoolers. Continuing the feature article direction, it could also (or instead) be that he was working a theme (or set thereof) and the Lincoln Memorial event presented a new/additional theme meriting inclusion in the story that otherwise wouldn't have included such a theme.

Even as I recognize the sequence and can acknowledge the plausibility of the notion you posited, I'm not of a mind to ascribe causality based only on the fact that "Event A" closely followed "Event B," which, frankly is all you've proffered to support the claim that the "Covington kids" event is what moved Levin to write a story about kids in Christian schools.
 
How is this journalist's research any different from any story on charter schools, abortion, the KKK, discrimination on the basis of gender, ethnicity or voting rights? Any of those topics would hit a nerve in today's political environment with anyone in this country, somewhere. Jeeze.
 
I don't deny the sequence of events. I'm questioning their causal relationship. That, the uncertainty re: causality, is why I said "post hoc ergo propter hoc," not one's predating the other.

Could the Covington events have inspired Levin? Yes, they could have; I'm well aware that it's possible. But it's every bit as possible that Levin was already working on a story (or several) -- to the extent he was working on a feature article rather than a news article, that's all the more so, and given his solicitation via Twitter, a feature is almost certainly what he was working on -- having to do with kids in, and/or kids and, parochial schools, and the Lincoln Memorial event happened, its notoriety being merely something that made it easier for him to call for disaffected parochial schoolers. Continuing the feature article direction, it could also (or instead) be that he was working a theme (or set thereof) and the Lincoln Memorial event presented a new/additional theme meriting inclusion in the story that otherwise wouldn't have included such a theme.

Even as I recognize the sequence and can acknowledge the plausibility of the notion you posited, I'm not of a mind to ascribe causality based only on the fact that "Event A" closely followed "Event B," which, frankly is all you've proffered to support the claim that the "Covington kids" event is what moved Levin to write a story about kids in Christian schools.

He said he was working on a story about the hashtag, which was created on January 19th, after the "Covington" event.
 
He said he was working on a story about the hashtag, which was created on January 19th, after the "Covington" event.

Fair enough.

What the rubric article includes of Levin's remarks about a hashtag is this:

Dxt0Nr6WkAEyHvQ.jpg


What that says is that he's writing about the response to the #exposechristianschools hashtag, which makes inaccurate the proposition that the man is/was writing about (aimed to write about) Christian schools is inaccurate. "Response to the #exposechristianschools hashtag" and "Christian schools" are two very different topics, despite the fact that the word "Christian" appears in both.

It's worth noting that Fox says Levin "took to Twitter in hopes to seek testimonials about people’s experiences while attending Christian schools;" however, as shown in my original post, and the image above, that's not what Levin says.
 
So it's not possible for someone to miswrite something? Ok
Its possible...but in that case you are reaching a conclusion you want, not what was intended.
 
I don't deny the sequence of events. I'm questioning their causal relationship. That, the uncertainty re: causality, is why I said "post hoc ergo propter hoc," not one's predating the other.

Could the Covington events have inspired Levin? Yes, they could have; I'm well aware that it's possible. But it's every bit as possible that Levin was already working on a story (or several) -- to the extent he was working on a feature article rather than a news article, that's all the more so, and given his solicitation via Twitter, a feature is almost certainly what he was working on -- having to do with kids in, and/or kids and, parochial schools, and the Lincoln Memorial event happened, its notoriety being merely something that made it easier for him to call for disaffected parochial schoolers. Continuing the feature article direction, it could also (or instead) be that he was working a theme (or set thereof) and the Lincoln Memorial event presented a new/additional theme meriting inclusion in the story that otherwise wouldn't have included such a theme.

Even as I recognize the sequence and can acknowledge the plausibility of the notion you posited, I'm not of a mind to ascribe causality based only on the fact that "Event A" closely followed "Event B," which, frankly is all you've proffered to support the claim that the "Covington kids" event is what moved Levin to write a story about kids in Christian schools.

He already really disliked Christians prior to the Covington flap, but that's what motivated him to finally solicit stories from anons in order to hopefully dredge up a nugget that he could use to write an award winning expose on. You act as though journalists are hard to figure out, & human nature is a complete mystery to you, and therefore to others as well. You probably also eagerly leapt onto the Nathan Phillips bandwagon, as soon as the story broke, without going over every detail with a fine tooth comb , such as you're now doing.

How'd I do professor?
 
For sure, Christianity is the last acceptable outlet for hatefulness and bigotry for those who would otherwise be opposed to such behavior. I watch people in here, who would fight to the death to defend pretty much any other demographic, engage in some pretty hateful garbage when it comes to discussing Christianity.

That said, when you don't show up for others, you can hardly expect others to show up for you. Sometimes we build our own prisons and guillotines. Another few hundred more years of this, and maybe we'll understand what it's like to be a marginalized minority. ;)

I will have to politely disagree.\
When my father died, the local Baptist church I attended before joining the Navy sent over a delegation of volunteers who cut the grass, cooked dinner, and even did some laundry for my mom.
I had come home on emergency leave and saw their kindness with my own eyes.
There was a knock on the door, and when i opened it, all these ladies just came on in and started doing things that needed done around the house.
I smelled some onions being saute'd and a few minutes later i heard the lawn mower fire up outside.

No atheists showed up to do anything. Organized or not.

You will know them by their works.

I was not alive in the Crusades or the Spanish Inquisition, but I was alive to see this kindness done.
 
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He already really disliked Christians prior to the Covington flap, but that's what motivated him to finally solicit stories from anons in order to hopefully dredge up a nugget that he could use to write an award winning expose on. You act as though journalists are hard to figure out, & human nature is a complete mystery to you, and therefore to others as well. You probably also eagerly leapt onto the Nathan Phillips bandwagon, as soon as the story broke, without going over every detail with a fine tooth comb , such as you're now doing.

How'd I do professor?

Red:
As a novelist, you've got some potential.
 
I will have to politely disagree.\
When my father died, the local Baptist church I attended before joining the Navy sent over a delegation of volunteers who cut the grass, cooked dinner, and even did some laundry for my mom.
I had come home on emergency leave and saw their kindness with my own eyes.
There was a knock on the door, and when i opened it, all these ladies just came on in and started doing things that needed done around the house.
I smelled some onions being saute'd and a few minutes later i heard the lawn mower fire up outside.

No atheists showed up to do anything. Organized or not.

You will know them by their works.

I was not alive in the Crusades or the Spanish Inquisition, but I was alive to see this kindness done.

I think that's awesome, bud. And I would be the last person in here to attempt to paint the Church in a negative light. However, as Christians, we understand that we can never be perfect, that we are going to mess up, and often. The Crusades and the Inquisition are famous examples of that, and ones often quoted by Christians because the time since makes it somewhat more comfortable to admit. But residential schools for Native kids operated until the 90's up here, and some denominations still advocate for sending their gay children to conversion therapy. And that doesn't even begin to address some of the problematic, weaponized version of our faith some denominations practice.

Under-celebrating works and over scrutinizing sin is pretty Biblical. The attitude we face today didn't take shape in a vacuum. We need to own our contributions to the current state, and do what we can to fix them. Given our practice of repentance, this shouldn't be all that controversial. Yes, the Church does great works, can have a great impact on the communities where they are located, and fund a lot of things that serve Christians and non-Christians alike. But only Christ is perfect, and even He couldn't pull that off while he was here...must be something in the water. ;)

Sorry if my writing style is a little too flippant, I really appreciated your response, and I'm sorry about your Dad. I come from a church that does that sort of thing as well, and it's a great witness, often better than all the sermons in the world - works often speak louder than words, as it were.
 
Looks like handing out the "removed from reality" award to Cardinal earlier, was a brash maneuver. That, or you are most likely the most dis-honorable mention that this category could ever receive.

lol...great response, Ob... You've managed to be personally insulting without actually making it clear what your position is. You understand that in debate, one should at least clarify what side they are debating...lol... Unless you're just telling us all you don't really have anything all that important or insightful to say....?
 
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