Monday, September 25, 2006

Dear CBC: What the f... ?


Your so-called "liberal media" in action:

Monday, September 25, 2006, 9:00 p.m.
25/09/2006


Part One of The Path of Knowledge tonight on Ideas. Commanded by the Qur'an to seek knowledge and examine nature for signs of the Creator, the Islamic world was synonymous with learning and science for five hundred years. IN the twenty-first century, the relationship between science and religion generates much debate amoung Muslims. Chris Tenove asks if there is a contradiction between Islam and modern science. That's tonight on Ideas at 9 (9:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. (CONCLUDES TOMORROW)

Hey, CBC, here's a thought. Why don't you broaden that mandate ever so slightly to include scientific illiterates other than certain Muslims? How about, oh, the certifiably-insane proponents of Intelligent Design or, even better, those Christian "young earth" imbeciles who swear by the historical accuracy of the Old Testament? Wouldn't that be fun? And ever so much more inclusive, no?

Idiots.

UPPITY DATE: Apparently, commenter "mike" thinks I'm being a bit rough on the CBC, and that I should peruse the archives to get a feel for that whole "fair and balanced" thing. OK, let's do that. Let's see the last time "Ideas" did a piece on, say, "evolution". Nope, nothing here.

All right, what about "Intelligent Design?" Given the recent popularity of ID and the associated controversies, surely a progressive and diverse program like "Ideas" must have touched on the topic, right? Um ... nope.

OK, then, let's cast a ridiculously wide net and go after "creationism," which even the most ardent proponents of ID don't take seriously anymore. And we find something from back in 1982. Fair enough, I guess -- it's not like anything new or exciting in the conflict between religion and science has happened since then, right? Oh, except for that science and Islam thing, of course.

I re-iterate: idiots.

AH, THERE'S MORE
. Commenter "GW" suggests I'm being unfair since, in just the last week, there's been a CBC special on religion in general, apparently inspired by Richard Dawkins' latest book.

Sadly, I have to run off for a couple of hours, but we'll be addressing this when I get back. In the meantime, feel free to proffer an opinion.

6 comments:

Mike said...

Give me a break. Ideas is one of the more progressive and diverse shows on the CBC, and I imagine if you looked through the archives, you could find topics taking into question aspects of other religions also.

Anonymous said...

[sorry if this posts twice]

You call the CBC idiots because the program Ideas is not addressing, and has not in some time addressed Christianity and science, ID, etc.

Perhaps you should cast your net somewhat wider than a single program if your goal is to conclude that the CBC in its entirety, are idiots. Especially given LAST NIGHT's episode of the Big Picture with Avi Lewis which featured an airing and discussion of Richard Dawkins' film on the evil of religion of all stripes.

Please CC, you're better than this.

M@ said...

I saw the Big Picture last night (I had already seen the Dawkins documentary) and thought the discussion was pretty good, although I had to change the channel from time to time (especially when that NDP whack job was talking). They had a philosophy prof defending rationality and reason, and he was very well spoken I thought.

The host specifically singled out the fundamentalist Christian representative for a slapdown, which was quite amusing.

As for Ideas -- the show ranges from the mundane and trivial to the fundamentally earth-shaking. The thing to remember is that it's like a documentary series, with different producers being showcased for one or more one-hour segments on a wide array of topics.

I don't remember them specifically dealing with an atheist point of view (though I don't listen every night). They do play the Massey lectures every year, and I've noticed that the right wingers are pretty unimpressed with recent Massey lecturers, so Ideas must at least be pissing some of the right people off.

Anonymous said...

I'm with Mike and gw on this one, CC - in this case, CBC appears to be asking a reasoned question that they intend to explore over two hours of program.

Certainly, the same question could be asked of fundamentalist Christianity as well, but that's not the question they are choosing to explore. That doesn't make them idiots.

I'm afraid this time, you are mixing issues.

Anonymous said...

Ideas covers a wide range of topics from a wide range of positons. In general, it is an excellent program.

They have run a series of discussions some quite radicle. For example, they did a series with Jane Jacobs and her work on cities. They also did a three part series on George Woodcock.

Try searching for Ideas Darwin.


George Woodcock: Gentle Anarchist
(1992) $19.00, 3-pt
Author of more than one hundred books on literature, travel, history and biograhy, George Woodcock is best known for his beliefs and research into the philosophy of anarchism. A profile by Ideas producer Don Mowatt.


Thursday, May 18
GEORGE WOODCOCK: GENTLE ANARCHIST*
One of Canada's most prolific writers, George Woodcock died earlier this year. He was born in Winnipeg in 1912, the son of English parents. The family returned to England the next year, and Woodcock grew up in the country of Thomas Hardy, D.H. Lawrence and Aldous Huxley. George Woodcock considered himself both an outsider and an observer of the English cultural scene. He edited Now, one of the most influential literary journals of the period, but in 1949, he felt drawn back to the country of his birth. He lived first on land he and his wife cleared on Vancouver Island, but moved later to Vancouver where he lived for more nearly forty years. He wrote more than a hundred books on literature, travel, history and biography, including studies of George Orwell, Gandhi and Kropotkin. Woodcock was best known for his research and beliefs in the philosophy of anarchism. His gentle but outspoken advocacy of a rich Canadian cultural tradition made him one of this nation's most articulate intellectual warriors. A profile by IDEAS producer Don Mowatt
Part 1 (Part 2 Thursday, May 25, Part 3 Thursday, June 1)




Or maybe look at Ideas coverage of Christianity:

THE CORRUPTION OF CHRISTIANITY: IVAN ILLICH ON GOSPEL, CHURCH AND SOCIETY
  The corruption of the best is the worst. This old adage sums up Ivan Illich's view of the fate of the Christian gospel during two-thousand years. He speaks as a Christian who believes that through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, something gloriously new came into the world: the possibility of knowing and loving God in the flesh. But along with this came a new and unprecedented danger: that the call to love more abundantly would become the basis for new forms of power in the hands of those who organize and administer the new testament. "Wherever I look for the roots of modernity," Illlich says, "I find it in attempts of the churches to institutionalize and manage Christian vocation." In conversation with David Cayley, Illich explores this hypothesis with respect to medicine, law and other modern institutions.


Prehaps Noam chompsky is your thing:

1988 Massey Lectures: Necessary Illusions - Noam Chomsky (5 CD set)
Regular Price: $49.95

Product ID: ERDOC00085
In stock. Usually ships in 2-3 business days.
From the Massey Lecture Series: Noam Chomsky, the internationally acclaimed linguist and political radical inquires into the nature of media in a political system where the population cannot be disciplined by force and thus must be subjected to more subtle forms of ideological control. Specific cases are illustrated in detail, using the US media primarily but also media in other societies. Chomsky considers how the media might be democratized (as part of the general problem of developing more democratic institutions) in order to offer citizens broader and more meaningful participation in social and political life.

Begun in 1961 by the CBC to enable distinguished authorities in the fields of general interest and importance to present the results of original study or research, the Massey Lectures were named in honour of the late Rt. Hon. Vincent Massey, former Govenor-General of Canada. The Massey Lectures are co-sponsored by Massey College, in the University of Toronto, and CBC Radio.

The five radio broadcasts recorded here were heard in 1988 as the thirty-eighth annual series of Massey Lectures. The Lectures were arranged by the Ideas unit of the CBC. The producer of the series was Philip Coulter, the executive producer was Bernie Lucht and it was hosted by Lister Sinclair.

Lecture 1: Democracy and the Media
Lecture 2: Containing the Enemy
Lecture 3: The Bounds of the Expressible
Lecture 4: Adjuncts of the Government
Lecture 5: The Utility of Interpretations

Anonymous said...

I agree with all the previous commentors. I've been listening to CBC Radio one for forty years, and while I don't always agree with their point of view, I alsays learn something. Harper and the CPoC want to privatize CBC. Let's not make it any easier for them to do so.