I haven't seen the new Bill Maher film, "Religulous," in which he takes aim at organized religion, but I have a quibble with one of the quotes in a recent article about it.
The film is directed by Larry Charles, of "Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan" fame (so perhaps I shouldn't expect accuracy, based on critiques of that film's Kazakhstan characterizations). Regardless, Charles - who reportedly grew up Jewish and once considered becoming a rabbi - says in the article:
If I believe that Jesus is God and you believe Mohammed is God, then no matter how tolerant we are, we are never going to meet. All you have to do is push that one more step, then somebody’s like, ‘You’re in the way of people believing in Jesus,’ and ‘You’re in the way of people believing in Mohammed,’ and the only answer is to kill you.
I don't disagree with the right to differ with religious groups about their beliefs. But I believe the press has a duty, when a source presents inaccurate information, to include correct information in the story. Muslims don't believe Muhammad is God, and while some venerate him, they don't worship him or view him the way Christians view Jesus.
Here's what the Religion Stylebook says about Muhammad:
Muhammad: Islam’s most important prophet. Because Muslims believe Islam existed before Muhammad, they consider him to be the religion’s final prophet, not its founder. Non-Muslims refer to Muhammad as the founder of Islam. Capitalize the word prophet when used with Muhammad’s name – as in the Prophet Muhammad – but not when used alone. According to traditional Muslim biographers, Muhammad was born circa 570 in Mecca and died in 632 in Medina, both cities in what is now Saudi Arabia.
Since so many people learn what they know - or think they know - from consuming media, it's vital that the information they consume is as accurate as possible. Running with inaccurate information fuels misunderstanding and, potentially, stereotyping, discrimination and hostility.
I imagine the "Religulous" film will do plenty along those lines on its own, but the press missed an opportunity here to correct the information it disseminates.
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