Compare and Contrast
posted at 3:56 pm on May 5, 2009 by Laura Curtis
[ Double Standards ]
Two young Americans, about the same age. Both made decisions that much of the country would find questionable, even abhorrent.
Media investigation of one revealed a “journey of spiritual zeal, linguistic and cultural education,” an “emotional” young person who had an “independent spirit.” Others interviewed described him as one who “loves America” and is “a sweet kid.”
Media investigation of the other revealed intolerance (of homosexuality), a willingness to deceive and implied cheating (boob job in a beauty pageant), hypocrisy and abandonment of religious beliefs (partially nude photos). Others interviewed described her as “polarizing” and “opportunistic.”
The second young person is obviously Carrie Prejean, Miss California. The first? John Walker Lindh, the American Taliban.
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Cross posted at PH.
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BRILLIANT, Laura!
The Other McCain on May 5, 2009 at 5:44 PM
You’re too kind.
Laura on May 5, 2009 at 6:20 PM
Awesome.
Slublog on May 5, 2009 at 6:47 PM
Excellent Laura, these are strange and troubling times we live in.
Tim Zank on May 6, 2009 at 8:45 AM
Wonderful, Laura.
I began to see the media start to self-destruct in the late 80′s (it may have started earlier, but that’s when I began to notice).
With only a few exceptions, it’s worse than dead now. The odor of the stinking corpse is almost unbearable.
Daggett on May 6, 2009 at 8:48 AM
Wonderful!
The only thing that would make it better would be to have links to the quotes in regards to Lindh.
Religious_Zealot on May 6, 2009 at 8:48 AM
Very revealing comparison. It still amazes me, even after 10+ years of following politics, just how biased the media is.
Kronos on May 6, 2009 at 8:48 AM
I might just start visiting the Green Room now that someone with some serious talent is contributing.
csdeven on May 6, 2009 at 8:51 AM
Religious Zealot, the quotes are all from the CNN article I linked on Walker Lindh. Click through for those quotes and a whole lot more.
Laura on May 6, 2009 at 8:51 AM
All I can say is.. WOW
sonofdy on May 6, 2009 at 8:51 AM
Very well done. I just wish the MSM would see their hypocrisy.
deidre on May 6, 2009 at 8:56 AM
I am a homeschool mom and I am getting ready to teach compare and contrast paragraphs. And then of course we are always into current events. How timely!
PrincipledPilgrim on May 6, 2009 at 8:58 AM
csdeven – yes, I also have been a longtime fan of Slublog and RS McCain. (That must be to whom you were referring…
)
Laura on May 6, 2009 at 8:58 AM
PrincipledPilgrim – wonderful that you’re homeschooling. We homeschooled my daughter from 8th through high school, which turned out to be a fantastic experience.
Laura on May 6, 2009 at 9:01 AM
I frequently lament my perception of always being right about the bad things. Obama is the latest-greatest example.
But the other side of that coin is my sense that conservative critics of the press almost always understate how bad it really is. This is why I was so annoyed at Ed’s whitewash of Chuck Todd, who is a left-biased clown undeserving of the benefit of doubt.
He is a liberal commentator, not a journalist. This story only reminds me that anyone failing to see the astonishing leftist bias of our media is simply a fool.
Jaibones on May 6, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Great article!
Cinday Blackburn on May 6, 2009 at 9:04 AM
Simply stated, and therefore, brilliant.
Thanks very much for posting this.
Loxodonta on May 6, 2009 at 9:05 AM
As they say in the scientific community when you present something very well
“Elegant”
LincolntheHun on May 6, 2009 at 9:08 AM
My apologies for missing that!
I’m still flabbergasted that the left thinks that I (a Christian) should want to cast stones at Miss Prejean because she got a boob job.
What the left knows and understands about Christianity wouldn’t fill a thimble.
Yet they sure seem to like to tell us what we should be thinking and how we should be reacting.
Kind of like when they wanted us to hate Gov. Palin because she stood behind her daughter when she got pregnant out of wedlock.
Religious_Zealot on May 6, 2009 at 9:09 AM
When one devotes enough time applying makeup before one’s mirror, it becomes difficult to see who one truly is.
Loxodonta on May 6, 2009 at 9:10 AM
Extremely insightful post Laura.
Up is down. Enemies are friends. Wrong is right. Bad is good. And Barack Hussein Obama is President of the United States.
Troubling times indeed.
BardMan on May 6, 2009 at 9:11 AM
Obviously, one person stood in their way, politically, and the other did not. If someone says, “Not every form of two people humping deserves to be promoted to marriage” That’s “Outrageous!!!” But if someone halfway around the World shouts, “Death to America!!” twenty times in a row, well, for many on the left, “that’s understandable.”
RBMN on May 6, 2009 at 9:16 AM
Evan Sayet’s Heritage Foundation lectures deal with this phenomenon.
This is just a taste:
But you really need to read the whole thing to appreciate the Rosetta Stone of the Liberal Mind.
The Monster on May 6, 2009 at 9:17 AM
Love it.
LibTired on May 6, 2009 at 9:23 AM
Well, that and the nudie pics. Because we’re so intolerant, you see. Honestly, I don’t see how that kind of vanity and exhibitionism is terribly compatible with biblical standards. But then again, I gossiped about someone the other day and had to repent and apologize, and have engaged in all sorts of sin including holding a grudge against a family member for eight years. So my thinking is I’ll let God convict Carrie Prejean of her sins, whatever they may be, and I’ll worry about my own. And I think that’s true of most Christians. We don’t approve, necessarily… nor do we have to condemn. “What the left knows and understands about Christianity wouldn’t fill a thimble.” – spot on.
When they don’t get the “intolerant” reaction they’re hoping for, they’ll move on to another line of attack. Like that guy who got in the WH press pool – Jeff something? – and it turned out he’d been in some gay porn flicks and we were supposed to be all horrified. When we weren’t, they dropped that meme in a hurry. I think they stay on Palin because they can’t help themselves – they really are deranged where she’s concerned.
Laura on May 6, 2009 at 9:24 AM
Priceless.
John on May 6, 2009 at 9:34 AM
Wow! That’s incredible.
4shoes on May 6, 2009 at 9:35 AM
And the funny thing is, Carrie simply does not want gays to get married. The Taliban do not want gays to live. But hey, they’re Muslims, not Christians, so it’s ok.
rbj on May 6, 2009 at 9:36 AM
To be perfectly honest, I think a case could be made that both the photos and the boob job are not compatible with God’s teachings (i.e. sins).
However, that doesn’t mean she’s not a Christian. In fact, it means that she’s a very TYPICAL Christian – one who struggles in their faith and occasionally fails.
My admiration of Miss Prejean is not based on some belief that she is somehow a “perfect” Christian (no such thing exists, anyway).
My admiration of Miss Prejean stems from her refusal to back down or back away from her beliefs in the face of some fairly harsh persecution. It would have been far easier (and more (earthly) profitable) for her to apologize for her beliefs.
As such, two pieces of scripture come to mind when I think about what happening to and with Miss Prejean:
and
Religious_Zealot on May 6, 2009 at 9:38 AM
Thanks for posting. Well done.
Angry Dumbo on May 6, 2009 at 9:42 AM
It isn’t just that the Left thinks we are intolerant. They believe we hate sex and sexuality. They think we want abortion outlawed because we want to punish women who get pregnant – that’ll teach them not to have sex!!11!1!! They think we fear and hate homosexuals because we just don’t want anyone having sex, with anyone, ever. They think we are obsessed with teaching abstinence and opposing birth control because kids should never have sex until they are married and if they do, they should be punished with babies.
I have a lot of liberal in-laws and they really believe this stuff about conservatives, especially Christian conservatives. They think we have been fighting a War on Sex for years.
rockmom on May 6, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Well played…well played indeed.
ernesto on May 6, 2009 at 10:15 AM
Great post; great point.
Drum on May 6, 2009 at 10:29 AM
Heh – hit them with the University of Chicago’s survey Sex In America, then: Conservatives, especially religious conservative women, are getting it on more and enjoying it more than liberal women. Seriously.
Laura on May 6, 2009 at 10:33 AM
It amazes me that Perez Hilton, whose real name is Mario Lavandeira, gets no scrutiny of his life as the MSM savages Miss California. The guy has to have so many skeletons in his closet because of the sick, twisted mind that he has.
volsense on May 6, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Has anyone actually seen the “nude” picture of Ms Prejean? I have seen more skin at a checkout lane at Wal-Mart. The reason it has not been shown by some media is to give the impression it is far worse than it actually is. If it is as bad as they intimate, Sports Illustrated would be removed from the magazine racks.
volsense on May 6, 2009 at 10:50 AM
volsense – this comes back to the recent John Hawkins argument that conservatives should give the left a taste of their own medicine, especially on oppo research. We should be scrutinizing him. AND the press. As Hawkins put it (and Ace did, back during the election) if Joe the Plumber’s personal life/tax liens, etc. are newsworthy, so are reporters.
Laura on May 6, 2009 at 10:51 AM
How bizzare.
Alden Pyle on May 6, 2009 at 11:04 AM
I agree that a case could be made, but it’s not cut and dry. Song of Solomon was fairly graphic in its praise for the female form. Esther was someone who used hers to God’s glory, seducing the King to save her own people.
Personally, I don’t see how Christians could think boob jobs are wrong, but makeup isn’t. As far as I’m concerned, unless you are harming your body, you aren’t sinning in making changes to it. In fact, I’d argue that those who do not take care of their bodies are in more direct conflict with the Bible (as it actually commands us to take care of them).
Esthier on May 6, 2009 at 11:07 AM
Estheir, I hope you don’t mind, but despite the interesting nature of your response, I’m not going to engage in this particular discussion right now.
Not because I have a problem with the subject or with you – far from it.
But because it detracts from the main point – that the left isn’t upset because she got a boob job or posed for a picture that’s tamer than most photos on the cover of Cosmo…
…they’re upset because she dared to voice the opinion that “dares not speak it’s name”.
They WANT us to get distracted into side conversations about her “virtue” and “wholesomeness” (or lack thereof).
However, the point isn’t about her – it’s about how ugly and nasty and vicious the left can be and how they really define “diversity” and “tolerance.”
Thus a conversation about whether boob jobs and risque photos are sinful can easily wait another day.
Let’s continue to shed a light on the left’s need to assassinate the character of anyone who dares to disagree with them.
And let’s also hold up Miss Prejean as an example of staying true to your beliefs in the face of unfair persecution.
Because, remember, to the left, it’s not only OK, but admirable and laudable to support the violent overthrow of our government and to shout “death to America!”
But, to the left, it’s a hate crime to say “I think marriage should be between a man and a woman.”
Religious_Zealot on May 6, 2009 at 11:25 AM
Brilliant!
No kidding! Moreover, after having them prance around in itsy bitsy teeny weeny bikinis, the ability to be shocked by a picture of someone’s back is somewhat lost on me.
Buy Danish on May 6, 2009 at 11:27 AM
I get what you’re saying and agree on the surface, but what’s also bothering me in this story is how Christians are viewed by the media. That they think we can’t or shouldn’t do these things without being viewed a hypocrite makes me angry.
They’re not only using these stories to trash Carrie. They’re using them to trash all of us.
Now, I admit there is a case to be made that we shouldn’t do those things, as there are denominations that would agree, but there are many that don’t and get ignored by media who want to paint us as fundamentalists jealous we didn’t think of the burka first.
I’m fine with not discussing it here if you don’t want to, but that’s the other thing I see at play here that makes my skin crawl. They’re not just content to destroy her; they want all of us. They want to put us in a box, and we generally let them.
I don’t just want to defend her right to speak. That’s insanely important. But I also want to defend all of us from this insane stereotype they have of us.
We get to define ourselves, not them.
Esthier on May 6, 2009 at 11:42 AM
Absolutely.
I get tired of non-Christians telling Christians how they should act and react and behave (especially that whole misunderstanding/misinterpretation of “don’t judge”)
But the point here isn’t whether or not Miss Prejean committed sins by getting a boob job or posing provocatively.
Regardless of whether they are sins or not, Miss Prejean is human, which means that there are other sinful behaviors that she has engaged in (e.g. we are all human, we all sin and fall short of the glory in God).
Her sinfulness, though, doesn’t make her a hypocrite nor does it somehow invalidate her beliefs.
And most importantly, she is still a Christian even though she sins.
It’s not the sin that makes her (and us) a Christian – it’s the forgiveness that we have accepted through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ that makes us Christians.
Thus, I’m not really concerned about the boob job and the pictures.
I’m concerned about how she stands up to adversity and continues to proclaim her faith.
And as far as the libs are concerned, they’re not going to listen to us anyway. They have their mind set on some twisted stereotype of what Christians look like and act like and no amount of truth will sway them.
Religious_Zealot on May 6, 2009 at 11:50 AM
Of course they won’t, and I would never even pretend to talk to them. It’s the independents, the moderates, and even the conservatives who aren’t Christian I’m interested in speaking to. They’ve bought much of this as well.
But this is more personal to me anyway. I was very different in high school. I agreed with almost everything said of us, because it was true for me and my family.
I do hope Carrie continues to stay strong. If she falters it will be very bad for her. They may accept her as a convert (and by that I don’t just mean on the issue of gay marriage), but if she’s being genuine now, she won’t be happy with herself.
Esthier on May 6, 2009 at 11:57 AM
Oh, THAT media bias…
Wyznowski on May 6, 2009 at 11:58 AM
Well, the best we can do is continue to speak out and show people what real Christians (and not stereotypes) look and act like.
I’m just not sure that defending taking risque pictures is a good and proper way of doing that.
For the record, here is why I think that it could (should?) be considered a sin. I’m going to link two different bits of scripture:
This scripture pretty well establishes that looking lustfully upon a person is sinful.
But that’s entirely upon the person looking, right?
Maybe not.
Now, I’m not for putting women in burkas, we shouldn’t be ashamed of our bodies.
That said, the photo (while tame by today’s standards) IS provocative.
I don’t think it’s pornographic nor do I think she’s a horrible, terrible person for having the photo taking.
I just don’t believe that taking a provocative picture that is not meant solely for the use and enjoyment for her spouse is not exactly in keeping with Christian teachings.
Of course, now I’ll be called a prude and a woman hater or other such nonsense. Well, so be it.
Religious_Zealot on May 6, 2009 at 12:09 PM
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