The curious journalistic bias that applies to Catholics and Jews but not to Muslims

Many media that are considered objective and rigorous exhibit a treatment of the religious fact with an increasingly frequent bias.

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We cannot treat equally two religions that say things as different as these

The treatment of Catholics and Orthodox Jews

This is observed in the media in many Western countries, but in the Spanish media it has become a very clear trend. It is enough to review the number of media outlets that use the expression "ultra-Catholics" to refer to those Catholics who simply belong to an apostolic movement, or who live their faith in a coherent and sincere manner strong>, without hurting anyone.

The same is true of Judaism. Have you noticed that many media outlets talk about "ultra-orthodox" Jews, but not just "orthodox" Jews? As with Catholics, this media bias is frequently exhibited when referring to people who live their religion in a strict way, but without harming others or resorting to violence.

The very different treatment Muslims receive

Things change if we talk about Islam. Unlike what happens with Catholics and Jews, very few media use the word "ultra-Islamic" to refer to those Muslims who live their religion more strictly. In fact, as a general rule, Muslims are treated more respectfully by the media than Catholics and Jews. For a Muslim to be labeled a "fundamentalist" by many means, it is not enough for him to live his religion strictly: generally only Muslims who advocate violence are so labeled.

In fact, mere criticism of Islam is described by many as "Islamophobia". However, very few media consider the mere fact of criticizing Catholicism and Judaism a "phobia". Words like "Christianphobia" or "Judeophobia" are very rare in the media, despite the numerous expressions of hate that both Jews and Christians endure on a daily basis. Why?

The leftist bias in the journalistic profession and its effects

One of the possible reasons for this bias is that journalism is one of the professions with the most inclination towards the political left. It's not that I'm saying it: it was exposed by a leftist media outlet in 2017 doing an analysis of Spanish journalism, which is one of those that most clearly exhibits these biases. Although many deny it, it is common for journalists to project their ideological prejudices into their work, not only through the use of expressions like the ones we have seen, but also in the choice of information.

This leftist bias in journalism implies transferring the ideological biases of that part of the political map to the world of information. The left-wing has been known for its hostility to Christianity for many years, and in Catholic countries like Spain, the left has traditionally made a display of clear hatred of Catholicism. In the same way, the left develops a militant activism against the State of Israel, an activism in which a good part of anti-Semitism is usually hidden today, since hatred of Jews has very negative connotations because of the atrocities committed in the Holocaust.

The anti-Western discourse of the left and its coincidence with Islam

Much of this anti-Christian and anti-Jewish prejudice stems from Marxist thought. Let us remember that long before Adolf Hitler published his infamous book "My Struggle", one of the most notorious antisemitic works was Karl Marx's essay "On the Jewish Question", which exhibits an astonishing coincidence with the Nazi dictator in terms of prejudice against Jews. For the rest, let us remember that Western civilization was built on Judeo-Christian roots, and due to the anti-Western discourse of a large part of the left, it is also directed against those roots.

On the contrary, this anti-Western discourse of the left connects very well with the anti-Western discourse of much of Islam, a discourse promoted by Arab nationalism (largely socialist-inspired) and also by extremism more religiously based Islamic. Perhaps this is why the left is more lenient and friendly towards Islam than towards Christianity and Judaism, despite the fact that theoretically, leftist materialism should collide with all religions. So, when you see this bias in any medium, reflect on what is behind it, and do not remain merely on the surface of the message. It is about time we realized that the media and journalists are much less neutral and objective than they would like us to believe.

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Photo: Reuters/Navesh Chitrakar.