Why Does the Decline of Islam Have to Fall on Us?

by Nidra Poller (July 2010)


The following is an expanded version of the speech delivered by Ms. Poller to the New English Review symposium, “Decline, Fall & Islam,” on June 19, 2010.

We have the material means to defeat our enemies and the spiritual resources to honor noble values. Confusion can be dissipated. Fertility can be restored [I promise that will be the subject of my talk at the next Symposium]. Fatality is not imposed by divine powers, it is concocted out of fear and fatigue.

Serious journalists who temper their passions, provide reliable information from verified sources, and seek the truth within well-defined limits make a vital contribution to our world view. The problem is that journalists monopolize the field from dailies to periodicals and all the way to the book market where, taking advantage of their notoriety, they publish stretched out versions of their daily grind.

Journalists analyze events in small daily packets, using more or less the same terms as their colleagues, rejecting original angles on reality as odd or extremist. Formats fit the outlet not the subject. Everything has to be treated briefly, succinctly, in bland language with simple syntax. Where timeliness is a virtue, quick bursts of information are blasted, repeated, exhausted, and dropped. The story dies of old age a few days after it broke. Journalists can go over the top, off the deep end, or completely off target without suffering consequences as long as they to do it collectively.

To comment on this speech, please click here.

here.
 
If you have enjoyed this article and want to read more by Nidra Poller, please click here.
 
Nidra Poller also contributes to our community blog, The Iconoclast. To see all her blog posts, please click here.