Following the Living Way - Jesus Christ

The Fairness Doctrine & The Dark Knight

Here's an article about how one Senator thinks bringing back the Fairness Doctrine is a great idea. Even more disturbing is that the article mentions a poll in which 47 percent of Americans think the government should require stations to "balance" their on-air viewpoints with opposing ideas. This is a terrible, terrible idea. Why? Not just because it may end conservative talk radio (some of which isn't great anyway). But because who determines what is "balanced?" The government. That means fallible people with power.

This country was founded on the idea that the individual human being had the responsibility and the ability to make up his or her own mind about different ideas. When a newspaper column or a street corner preacher presented a viewpoint, the average citizen was expected to use some common sense and discernment to decide the speaker's believability. That is what is behind freedom of speech and freedom of the press - the authority of the individual person to think for himself. The Fairness Doctrine says "We, the government, don't believe that you, the citizens, have the right or the ability to discern truth on your own. So we are going to decide truth for you. We, fallible human beings, are going to tell you what balance is, and make sure that you are getting a 'balanced' view, based on our definition of balance."

This, friends, is one more step toward tyranny, where the government assumes power and authority over an area in which it is not supposed to have that authority - the ability to determine truth. Never forget that "the government" is just flawed human beings like you and me. It can only do so much.

And that brings up one reason why I didn't like "The Dark Knight" despite having eagerly awaited it for 3 years. The reason is that in the end, Batman decided that the citizens of Gotham were too stupid and too immature to handle the truth that Harvey Dent turned bad. Instead, he took the blame for Dent's crimes, allowing Gotham to believe a lie. The "self-sacrificing superhero" protected the "naive citizenry" from the truth.

And, the would-be enforcers of the Fairness Doctrine no doubt see themselves as the benevolent, enlightened "public servants" who "heroically" protect the naive citizens from such terrors as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. The real tragedy is that 47% of the citizens apparently don't believe they can discern the truth for themselves, either.

posted by Rob @ 5:42 PM