Authority in Media

I was just listening to NPR's fresh air, and the topic of the conversation was the Bart Ehrman's book Jesus Interrupted.  Essentially, he explores the discrepancies Bible and how we come to understand the 'historical Jesus.'  This is nothing new, I have read many articles and books that argue very similarly to Ehrman, but what I noted was my own reaction.  I was feeling a little threatened by what it is was that he was saying.  I mean he was calling into question some things that I think are very important.  Whether he was right or not, or whether he was even asking the right questions is another story.  But, as I began to mull over what he was saying, and talking back to the radio, I stopped and asked the question, 'why are you so upset.'  This is what I came up with.

This man was challenging something I hold to be important.  But, not only was he challenging it he was given some sort of authority.  What authority was he given?  Well, simply by the fact that he was on this radio show.  Now, to people who don't listen of NPR or don't even know what NPR is, rather they were just perusing radio stations and happened across this broadcast may not have felt the same or maybe they would.  But, because I am a big fan of NPR this was kind of a knock on the head.  You see I fight so hard to think critically about my faith and the way I interact with the world.  I am fully aware that Christianity is not a sealed bubble free from critical thought.  Yet the fact remains that I was still drawn to respond in a negative way rather than a positive one; seeking to oppose thought rather than engage it.  Again, let me reiterate that I have read these arguments before, they are nothing new.  I have also heard and read rebuttals, and yet I still responded with this primal rage.  Thus I blamed the media.

Now, before you roll you eyes at the blame game, this is not a critic of the liberal media but the way that media has inherent power.  Some have argued that this is why Hitler was so successful at turing average citizens into mass murderers.  What I want to say is that simply by giving voice to something you give it power.  These created powers tend to shape those in their proximity and thus it can be quit threatening when the power created is that is in opposition to an existing power.  In other words, a sense of tension is created.  But back to speech power, I think ancients were smarter than we often give them credit for...there is a certain power is speech, especially speech that has the ability to reach millions.  Thus media has within it an inherent power.  The power to communicate with speech, image, and sound the power of an idea.

Should we feel threatened, or should we discipline ourselves to respond in love to opposite forces?