Topic: Media Research Center
With a name like Citizens Against Religious Bigotry, you'd think that the group would be interested in fighting all instances of religious bigotry. But it's clear that the group cares only about one particular religion.
CARB was co-founded by the Media REsearch Center's Brent Bozell, and the MRC is essentially supporting it -- the domain name " CitizensAgainstReligiousBigotry.org" currently redirects to a page at MRC Action. Bozell's narrow-mindedness and fierce right-wing partisanship are apparently driving the group, making a mockery of its name.
An Aug. 7 press release issued on the MRC website states how "more than 20 conservative leaders have joined Media Research Center (MRC) President Brent Bozell in raising their voices in support of religious freedom and our Constitutionally protected right to free speech." So far, so good.
So what was the pressing issue Bozell and the others spoke out on? "The controversy over Chick-fil-A exposed the rampant anti-Christian bias and First Amendment double standard characteristic of liberal media."
Of the groups represented on Bozell's coalition, several are described by the Southern Poverty Law Center as "anti-gay," and three -- the American Family Association, the Traditional Values Coalition and the Family Research Council -- are identified by the SPLC as "hate groups" for their "propagation of known falsehoods" about gays and their "repeated, groundless name-calling." The MRC is hostile to gays as well.
While CARB was intensely concerned about the doings of a fast-food restaurant (arguably living up to its acronym), it thus far has been completely silent about recent instances of religious bigotry that don't involve Christians:
- The massacre of six Sikhs at a temple in Wisconsin.
- The apparent arson fire that destroyed a mosque in Joplin, Mo.
If CARB truly cared about "religious bigotry," Bozell and Co. would have spoken about these incidents. Instead, it appears to only care about right-wing Christianity.
In short, the group's name is a lie. Doesn't that violate one of the 10 Commandments?
