Dear Media: Radovan Karadžić is a European Christian
Radovan
Karadžić has been found guilty of genocide for the 1995 Srebrenica
massacre and was sentenced to 40 years in prison. That’s Radovan
Karadžić: Bosnian Serb leader, Bosnian Serb politician, Bosnian Serb war
criminal, Bosnian Serb. But that’s not, if you have followed the past
20 years of international media coverage, Radovan Karadžić…European
Christian.
I’m not going to go into Karadžić’s
religious history and beliefs here, but suffice it to say that this was a
man who in 2010 described the viscous bloodbath he oversaw as “just and holy.” Muslims were systematically slaughtered. Mosques were blown up. The overtones of the Crusades were obvious.
Yet the European and US media, for the
most part, did not (and do not) wish to define Karadžić in terms of his
religious affiliation. Many of his victims, however, were certainly
framed in that way — they were “Bosnian Muslims.” But the aggressors
were usually identified by region and nationality, not religion. This
allowed those who live in Europe, or the world, who are not Serbian or
Bosnian Serbs to distance themselves. “That’s got nothing to do with
me…” is the obvious reaction for those of us from another country or
region.
When, however, we define people such as
Karadžić as “Christian” (and do so on a consistent basis) we enter into
an entirely new realm of identity. Any notion of personal connection or
collective responsibility moves from region or nation-state to a much
broader disapora of peoples linked simply by their religious faith. Of
course, a natural reaction on the part of Christians globally would be
to distance themselves from Karadžić, and to claim that his actions have
nothing to do with “real” Christians or Christianity.
In other words, Christians would get
uncomfortable — or even offended — by the suggestion that they are in
any way represented by a monster like Karadžić .
In much the same way, I would imagine
that the vast majority of Muslims get uncomfortable — or even
offended — by the way in which mainstream media outlets de facto
link their Muslim faith to the actions of ISIS. In much the same way, I
would imagine, that the vast majority of Muslims get uncomfortable — or
even offended — with being asked by the media to “condemn” the actions
of violent madmen in Paris or Brussels with whom they feel no spiritual
or personal connection. In much the same way, I would imagine, that the
vast majority of Muslims get uncomfortable — or even offended — by the
proposal that they be banned from a country simply on the basis of their
religion.
This is the power of language: the
power of a single word to alter how we understand and react to news. If
the media will not define Karadžić as a “Christian” out to kill Muslims,
we should ask why. Or, inversely, if they are willing to define a
perpetrator in religious terms only
if he/she is Muslim, we should ask why. Ultimately, the Karadžić story
reveals a clear, self-serving ethnocentrism in European and US media.
This isn’t about moral
relativism. This isn’t about political correctness. This is about the
basic concepts of professional and intellectual consistency.
No comments:
Post a Comment