The people who believe Obama is the Antichrist are perhaps jumping to conclusions, but they're not nuts.
-- Newsweek (yes, THE Newsweek), Nov. 15, 2008, in a story simply headlined, "Is Obama the Antichrist?"
Uh, actually, these people are kind of nuts -- and I don't think it would have been at all out of bounds for Newsweek to come out and, using more polite terminology, say so. Unlike some journalists, I don't have a problem with the media reporting on the existence of conspiracy theories -- they are part of the fabric of American life, for better or worse -- but the goal is to put them in some context. This one seems waaay too credulous -- am I missing something here?
We've discussed this many times here: Thank God America is a place where people are free to practice their beliefs -- no matter how bizarre -- and free to speak about them. That doesn't mean a major media org like Newsweek needs to hand over a megaphone to a fringe idea that, at its core, is pretty odious.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
E-mail Will by clicking here.
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