The Star Self-Censors

Tom Rose, who wrote the below article, contacted the Indianapolis Star to see if they could perhaps run a toned-down and shortened version of the op-ed before the election. Rose was seeking to draw attention to the media’s failure to carefully scrutinize Andre Carson’s faith while at the same time having no qualms about reviewing the faith of other candidates, an example being former-GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, a follower of the Mormon faith.

The Star told Rose that they could not publish his article because it was to close to the election and Carson would not be able to adequately respond. Yet Rose’s article does not attack Carson but rather asks questions and makes careful charges against the mainstream media for its failure to give Carson a chance to distinguish himself from other, less freedom loving, Muslims.

The real crux of this incident is not Carson’s personal faith, but the unwillingness of the media in general to defend its own values system while asking serious questions of a values system who’s adherents often make declarations against the foundations of freedom. A culture, and a media, that is unwilling to believe in the goodness of its own values system is a culture-or media-that is quite unsure of its identity.