If Barbara Walters wanted to get publicity when she hired two new cohosts this month, she sure got her wish. New hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd have so far fit into the chatfest seamlessly. Goldberg, whose views are more left wing, aligns with longtime host Joy Behar, while Shepherd, a devout Christian, skews more conservative like host Elisabeth Hasselbeck.
Yesterday, during a discussion on evolution, Shepherd and Hasselbeck both discussed Bible verses that made them doubt evolution. Goldberg, who is the show's moderator, pressed Shepherd on her beliefs, asking if Shepherd "believed the earth was flat."
Shepherd refused to answer. She shrugged off the question, claiming that she's more concerned with day-to-day issues than with caring whether the earth is round or flat. However, Goldberg, and show creator Barbara Walters, wouldn't accept Shepherd's non-response. When asked what she would do if her son came to her and asked if the world was flat, she replied, "I'd take him to the library."
Despite Shepherd's noncommittal answer, various press outlets have already run stories proclaiming that she genuinely believes the earth is flat. Many bloggers and columnists felt that Shepherd's religious beliefs and stances on other topics like abortion and evolution meant she simply had to believe in a flat earth, although I personally failed to see the connection. Saying "I don't know" isn't the same thing as saying "Yes."
As a regular "View" watcher, I'm never at a loss to find outlandish comments to write about. One of the five women on the show will invariably say something shocking or surprising, so why fabricate one? Especially when "The View's" website has the morning's clips in case you missed anything.
Watch the exchange here:
Add to Del.icio.us
Add to Technorati
Add to Digg
Add to Newsvine
Add to Facebook
Add to StumbleUpon
Subscribe
Frank:
By any chance did you see the show the day after Sherri's flat earth statement? It was discussed. I will agree to disagree with you on Sherri's intelligence. Is Sherri new to the show and it's fast pace, yes. Did she make a silly statement? Yes, but I don't think she is dumb. Is she the sharpest knife in the drawer? Probably not, but dumb? That is a broad catagory.
If my folks were still alive and saw the show, I'm not sure they would have thought about it long enough to wonder about Sherri's intelligence. They probably wouldn't have judged her answer, but would have laughted it off. I tend to think it(the statement) was a silly thing to exploit, and I think they would have also.
As to respect...I have respect for you and your beliefs, as well as other religions. You seem to have come to them on an interesting path...agnostic, Jew, and Christian. I was raised in the Methodist church for the first 17 years of my life, but had a hard time with an invisible being (god), who demanded worship and kept an eye on everyone. Just didn't cut it. However my sisters still are devout, and we get along fine. That was over 40 years ago. I have a feeling from reading your post, that you are a caring, understanding person and have a clue as to when to tell folks about Christianity and when not to.
You mentioned that the media is more anti-Christian than anti-Muslim or anti-Buddhist. Perhaps, but with the current situation in Iraq and all the over Middle East, there is a lot of anti-Muslim feelings on the media. There were a couple of shows recently that were pro-Christian, 7th Heaven and Joan of Arcadia. I used to watch Joan, but since I liked it...it was cancelled! The desire of the religious right to tell women what to do with their bodies, to tell the government what laws to pass, to try and run this country isn't a good advertisement for Christians.
I knew that you and I could get along! I was born into a Methodist family ( a very strict one). Issues with church practices pushed me away from church, into my own agnosticism, further into Judaism which oddly led me back to Christianity. It's a long story.
My whole issue with Christians is that being bold, obnoxious and stupid does not represent Jesus nor the faith. I hate street-corner evangelism and close-minded judgmentalism. Furthermore, I hate the stereotype that is so easily spread that Christians are dumb and ignorant. I think there is room to question evolution, but seriously, a round earth is something that should be a no-brainer.
There are some anti-muslim sentiments in the media, but they are not made nearly as evident. If anything most media outlets seem to fear attracting muslim hate more than christian hate.
I can't stand 7th heaven, it irritates the hell out of me. As for Joan of Arcadia, I found it much more tolerable...but, of course, it was canned.
The fact that Christianity is trying to defy what our founding fathers wanted out of this goverment bothers me; this nation should be free to practice any religion, I don't want Christian-based laws because all that does is push people further from my faith. As for the religious right........ some of it I agree with, some I don't. I am of my own philosophy : Philosophic Radicalism. I evaluate what the core meaning of a belief is to determine its relevance (thanks Ayn Rand). More Christians need to learn to use their brains.
Frank:
I didn't watch 7th Heaven, but heard about it from my sister, who let her 2 girls watch it. Joan was just fun to me.
My parents were gentle, loving people and the Methodist church we attended wasn't strict. But as I got older, the things I was being taught just didn't make sense...thus my questioning and leaving the faith.
This country certainly shouldn't be run by any religion, but there are some who feel that the lack of "Christianity" is the reason for all our troubles....lack of prayer in pubic school has started the decline in children't behavior and other rot like that.
I haven't figured out why the pushy, close-minded evangelicals who think that pushing is the way of spreading their message, does just the opposite most of the time.
Yes, more Christians need to learn to use their brains...certainly agree with that.
Maybe Sherri will read some science books and learn what shape the earth is and go farther and find evolution logical.
Its too bad that the show does not allow a thoughtful discussion of such matters and relies on verbal unreferenced assertions. Its just more of the shallow programing that seems to promote a passive intake of information..uncritical consumption without thinking, without effort...People should read more and think more. Then they would make more sense and develop more individually arrived-at positions instead of repeating the opinions and conventional assumptions of others.
I think that religion is based on astrology and worship of the sun. It is no coincidence that December 25th Jesus supposed b-day as well as many, many other so called sons of god like Horus etc...
December 25th is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. Then the Sun (son) returns.
Religion is a complete scam and completely 100% untrue.
So religious people are not critical thinkers and choose "faith" over common sense for one reason or another.
Post a Comment
By submitting these comments, I agree to the beliefnet.com terms of service, rules of conduct and privacy policy (the "agreements"). I understand and agree that any content I post is licensed to beliefnet.com and may be used by beliefnet.com in accordance with the agreements.