Such schizophrenic behavior is not confined to Ohio newspapers. In our current national crises regarding the Presidential election, the mass media has passed through some surreal boundary. Emotionalism marked by hourly polls has overshadowed all concerns for the Constitution, the finer thoughts of the Founders, or the objectivity of the rule of law. It matters not to the media culture whether the candidate is a socialist, a communist, or a fascist, all is acceptable as long as there is a demonstrative gush of total passion, and mercurial emotion. The media boys just don't get it.
Public officials make public policy.
Those policies have real consequences which are beyond polite debate fraternities and stale, moribund think tanks. Raw emotion, while an underdeveloped humanistic urge, is just as dangerous if not more so than its more intellectually advanced and philosophical cousin. The challenge for the reformer is in cutting through the schizophrenia of hyper-emotionalism and exposing the lie of the humanistic ideal with the objective truth of God's inscripturated will. Rev. Jeffrey A. Ziegler is founder and president of Christian Endeavors and Reformation Bible Institute.