I don’t know why I continue to be astonished what I hear on television when it comes to religion or religious belief. Of course there are some channels that come across as anti-religion to a degree and then there’s one that at one time, I called The Believers Channel because their anchors expressed their faith in what was supposed to be news shows, unabashedly. Of course the same goes with. other channels that would mock religious belief, in what was supposed to be a news program.

I honestly don’t care what they say on their opinion shows. If they want to become televangelists or anti-religionists on their shows, fine, because I’m not really expecting straight news there. There are some shows I guess I would call hybrid, a mix of straight news and opinion. Sometimes on those shows, I really have to pay attention to know if I’m hearing someone’s opinion or if I am receiving journalism. I think that’s why we hear, more often in the last few years, that what used to be news is now Infotainment. There’s a lot of competition for viewers and especially in certain demographics because attracting certain viewers affects how much the companies may charge for advertising.

So I’m watching one of the shows I call hybrid, and there’s a short segment on Amy Barrett, with a guest being a woman that has been friends with her since college and of course discussing Ms. Barretts religious belief. I wasn’t paying close attention but what did make me stop what I was doing and listen, was when it was mentioned that Democrats were mainly secular. Really? 70% of the country is religious and those are all Republicans? If that’s true why do the Democrats win any seats in any election? Stupid statement. What was more amazing was when the same host said the religious people were happier. What? The direct implication of course is that non-religious people are not happy, in general I guess.

I wonder how many people, like me, thought this was a strange segment, discussing religion. I mean, I don’t know about anyone else, but I know plenty of people that vote for Democrats that are religious as well. Next, I know people that are religious that aren’t always happy. How does being religious make you happier than an atheist or just a non-religious person? Dies it look like, to anyone that those 70% are any happier lately? People are just people and whether you are religious or not, there are going to be good and bad days.

I won’t speak for anyone else, but generally, I’m happy and most atheists I know I’ve heard say something similar. But hey, again, is everyone happy all the time? I’ve never met one and if I did, I’d be suspicious and probably stay away. It just bugged me that there is an impression that atheists and non-religious people are unhappy. I wonder how many people that saw that segment agreed with the statements made? I’ll probably never know but I would take another guess that what was said was not a minority opinion.

This is what we can expect from the media and have had for a long time now – at least a decade. They are either anti- or pro-religion. Guess what news media? Most people don’t care what you believe or even think about religion and to make really ignorant statements that a persons happiness is based on their religious values is just insulting.Media