Religion in the Media - Thoughts in Brief

A great big ol' hat tip to Vast Left Wing Conspiracy at God is for Suckers for bringing this to my attention.

The article is from Media Matters, it's Left Behind: The Skewed Representation of Religion in Major News Media. Nuggets of wisdom from the article include that fundie nutjobs are 3 times more likely to be quoted than "progressive" religious leaders. (I mean, to me, calling yourself a progressive religious leader is like saying you're a best downhill skiier in Haiti, but maybe that's just me.) But what this seems to demonstrate is something I've said before, and I'm sure I'm going to say it, again: fundamentalism is mainstream religion in America.

The fundies aren't quoted 3 times as often because there's some conspiracy to destroy liberal Christianity in America, but because those leaders actually represent the religious views of most religious Americans. They're on the tube because the people who watch the tube want to see them. They're there because they accurately represent American Christians.