The man who cannot listen to an argument which opposes his views either has a weak position or is a weak defender of it. No opinion that cannot stand discussion or criticism is worth holding. And it has been wisely said that the man who knows only half of any question is worse off than the man who knows nothing of it. He is not only one-sided but his partisanship soon turns him into an intolerant and a fanatic. In general it is true that nothing which cannot stand up under discussion or criticism is worth defending.
July 28, 2012
Church Leader Speaks of Reason
I came across the following great quote on reason by Elder James E. Talmage from the January 1920 Improvement Era magazine. I think this statement is needed now more than ever in an era of unprecedented partisanship.
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3 comments:
What are some good sources for true, unbiased political information? I am so clueless when it comes to politics, I can't discuss or argue anything. I don't know how to research online without being bombarded by biased opinions rather than straight facts.
In politics there are rarely straight facts. I have found the best thing to do is to listen to each side and determine which candidate or platform most clearly aligns with my beliefs about government.
Spend time trying to understand what it is that draws others to an opposing view. For example, if one side claims a candidate you favor is espousing ideas that closely align with Castro, rather than rejecting the statement, use it as a catalyst to discover more. Try to find the comparisons they are finding then determine if you agree. The process brings reason to the table rather than emotion.
Study one thing at a time instead of expecting to understand it all at once. Just do your best. It isn't a test. It is a vote. There is no such thing as a news source that only reports facts. Politics is meant to be debated. There had never been a time otherwise. If we do not want debate then we are asking for dictatorship.
Just examine it the issues with the goal of understanding rather than defending - once you gain understanding then defending follows naturally.
That’s a great question. There are so many websites, TV shows, pundits, and newspapers that pretend to be news, but really just try to sway people in a particular direction. It can be tough to find good, solid sources of unbiased information on various political issues. I wrote a post about this very issue here (http://mormonprogressive.blogspot.com/2012/02/gingrich-fox-news-analysts-dont-know.html), but in a nutshell, here are some guidelines I try to keep in mind when I want to learn more about current events and politics.
First, there is no such thing as a completely bias-free source of information. However, there are news organizations that try their best to give objective, unbiased reporting. And there are others that aggressively pedal a particular point of view and try their best to persuade their viewers or readers. It’s best to stay with the news organizations that are trying to be objective. Also, it’s good to look at international sources, because the U.S. media has its own bias that can be seen what compared with overseas sources.
Opinion articles are certainly not always a bad thing. I think reading well-informed opinion articles is pretty important for developing a personal knowledge of the issues. But it’s best to avoid the run-of-the-mill talking heads (such as Limbaugh, Hannity, on the right, and Olbermann, Franken, on the left) and look for experts on the topic you want to know more about. For example, if I want a well-informed opinion on global warming, I won’t go to Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken, I’ll look for something written by actual climate scientists and for statements issued by the top climate science organizations in the U.S. If I want to learn more about the threat of Iranian nukes, I won’t read Glenn Beck or Keith Olbermann, I’ll read what nuclear and national security experts have said. If I want to know more about the effectiveness of Obama’s economic policies, I’ll look for opinions of actual economists.
In any case, here a few sources of least-biased news that I recommend:
http://www.nytimes.com/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/
http://www.csmonitor.com/
http://news.bbc.co.uk/
These are good sources that fact-check the claims of the various political candidates:
http://www.factcheck.org/
http://www.politifact.com/
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